Aboitiz Power Corp. is bullish on 2024 prospects despite industry headwinds because of its capability to meet growing electricity demand and the launch of new generation capacities, a top executive said Thursday.
AboitizPower president and chief executive Emmanuel Rubio said market conditions in the power sector were expected to remain tight in 2024 given the global uncertainties, the El Nino weather phenomenon and increasing consumption.
“While we see tight market conditions, we, at AboitizPower, are confident in our fundamentals and our diverse fleet of generation assets. We are dedicated to running our power plants with world-class availability and efficiency to help mitigate the country’s thin supply margins and reliably support the aggregate demand, as we did in 2023,” he said.
“As electricity demand continues to grow, we will strive to generate more megawatt hours next year through higher plant availability—especially as we expect coal prices to decline—and new capacities,” Rubio said.
AboitizPower has close to 1,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy projects in the pipeline and aims to build at least 4,600 MW over the next decade.
The company anticipates the launch of the 17-MW Tiwi Binary geothermal power plant in Albay and the 159-MW Laoag solar project in Pangasinan this year.
A number of projects are also expected to come online by the end of 2024 to early 2025, including the 44-MW solar plant in Armenia, Tarlac; the 85-MW solar plant in San Manuel, Pangasinan; the 206-MW wind project in San Isidro, Northern Samar in partnership with Vena Energy and Vivant Energy; and the 173-MW solar power project in Calatrava, Negros Occidental.
AboitizPower also expects to break ground on a number of renewable energy projects this year including the 212-MW solar plant in Olongapo City, Zambales; the 50-MW Camarines Sur wind project which won the second round of the Green Energy Auction in July 2023; and the 102-MW Rizal-Laguna Wind Project in partnership with Vena Energy.