Therma Marine Inc., a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corp., said Wednesday its 49-megawatt battery energy storage system in Maco, Davao de Oro began commercial operations.
The facility, which the company sees as a model for future battery investments and hybrid renewable energy projects, is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia to be built on a floating platform, it said.
“Aboitiz Power sees battery technology as a great opportunity to address concerns about the reliability, affordability, and sustainability of energy supply,” Aboitiz Power president and chief executive Manny Rubio said in a statement.
“We respond to the needs of our customers and communities while supporting economic growth by ensuring the grid’s stability,” Rubio said.
BESS is a type of energy storage that uses batteries to store electrical energy when there is a supply surplus in the grid and releases energy when customers need power the most.
The Maco BESS will complement TMI’s diesel engines by providing ancillary services to sustain the transmission capacity and energy essential in maintaining the Mindanao grid’s power quality, reliability and security.
It is among 12 projects with a total capacity of 248 MW for regulating and contingency reserves that Aboitiz Power aims to develop this decade.
Aboitiz Power is one of the largest energy and ancillary services providers.
“We are excited to finally begin commercial operations of our first BESS facility, which will help reinforce the Mindanao grid,” Rubio said.
Aboitiz Power is also implementing another BESS project under SN Aboitiz Power Group—the 24-MW Magat BESS project at the SNAP Magat hydroelectric power plant in Ramon, Isabela.
The Magat BESS began construction in August 2022 and is expected to operate by the first quarter of 2024.
Aboitiz Power said its growth strategy in the next decade would be significantly driven by renewable energy aside from BESS.
Aboitiz Power and its partners are the largest owners and operators of renewable energy in the Philippines based on installed capacity. It has been leading in the renewable energy space since the 1970s.