The WalterMart and Abenson Group of Companies tapped First Gen Corp., the country’s leading renewable energy (RE) provider, to transition its electricity requirements to geothermal power.
The shift to RE is part of the group’s objective to reduce the environmental impact of its retail operations.
Under the agreement signed between officials of First Gen and WM Shopping Center Management Inc., the developer of the WalterMart chain of community malls, the Lopez firm will supply 47 megawatts (MW) of geothermal power to the group.
This includes WalterMart malls, including its W Department Store, WalterMart Supermarket and Abenson stores across Metro Manila, Central and Southern Luzon. The agreement also includes the Citadines Bay City Manila Hotel in Pasay City and the Ascott Bonifacio Global City Manila—both owned by the WalterMart group.
First Gen will source the power from the Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plant, owned and operated by its subsidiary, Energy Development Corp.
“Our collaboration with WalterMart began in 2019 with solar facility installations,” said First Gen president Francis Giles Puno. “Since then, the WalterMart team has made long-term commitments toward sustainability. We are happy to support the WalterMart journey to power their community malls with 100 percent RE.”
“As WalterMart continues to grow and open new community spaces across the country, First Gen will be ready to power every expansion and deliver what is truly a baseload source of renewable energy, and continue to support its solar and energy efficiency initiatives,” Puno said.
First Gen is also installing solar facilities across several WalterMart Malls.
“We extend our heartfelt gratitude to First Gen for being our trusted partner in advancing sustainability through RE,” said Abraham Uypeckcuat, chairman of WM Shopping Center. “The commitment to clean power enables our malls to operate responsibly and efficiently, reducing our carbon footprint while creating a greener future for the communities we serve. Together, we are proving that progress and sustainability can go hand in hand.”
WalterMart has 45 community malls around the Philippines. By year-end, 25 of these malls will have solar power facilities with a total capacity of 27-megawatt peak (MWp), in line with its goal to source 20 percent of its electricity needs from solar by the end of 2025.
First Gen, a subsidiary of Lopez-led conglomerate First Philippine Holdings Corp., has the largest portfolio of power plants that generate renewable energy from solar, wind, hydro and geothermal, with a total capacity of over 1,700 MW.
Meanwhile, First Gen subsidiary Pi Energy helps its partners optimize power usage, such as on-site solar facilities, remote energy monitoring systems and other energy efficiency solutions.
