2 firms tap AboitizPower for RE shift

MANILA, Philippines — Aboitiz Power Corp., through its retail electricity supply company, Advent Energy Inc., has been tapped by two manufacturing plants in Visayas for their renewable energy shift.

The factories of car builder NKC Manufacturing Philippines Corp. (NKC) in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, and sugar producer Victoria Milling Co. (VMC) will now run on Cleanergy, AboitizPower’s renewable energy solutions brand that supplies communities and businesses with power derived from run-of-river, large hydro, solar and geothermal.

Advent Energy bagged the contracts for the two companies that have chosen to shift to renewable energy to run their manufacturing plants under the Department of Energy’s Green Energy Option Program (GEOP).

GEOP empowers consumers with the option to source renewable energy from a licensed supplier, as opposed to consuming what is supplied by the distribution utility in their area.

The program also promotes the use of renewable energy to increase the share of clean energy in the country’s generation mix.

AboitizPower senior vice president for commercial operations Sandro Aboitiz welcomed the market’s positive response to the government’s GEOP program as it drives the company to continue its momentum in reaching a 50:50 balance in its generation portfolio.

“We support the GEOP initiative of the DOE as it gives customers the freedom to choose renewable energy in meeting their energy requirements and their own energy supplier,” Aboitiz said.

“More importantly, it allows end-users to play an active part in reducing environment impact and  safeguarding the future of generations to come,” he said.

AboitizPower has allotted P190 billion to expand its RE portfolio to 4,600 megawatts (MW) or threefold its current capacity by 2030.

The investments are expected to help address the market’s growing demands and contribute to managing climate-related risks.

NKC president Norihiko Matsuda said using reliable and responsibly-sourced energy is important in their business operations.

“While we help build vehicles, we want to do our part in creating a safer world where families can enjoy the products we put to life. We are confident that having AboitizPower as a supplier paves the way for NKC to go full speed with this direction,”Matsuda said.

VMC, for its part, said the choice to shift to renewable energy to run their bioethanol plant is a way to help the company achieve its sustainability goals.

It hopes to positively impact the wider ecological system by using energy-saving technology, and minimizing energy consumption, carbon emissions, and pollution.