Aboitiz Power Corp. is on track to operating additional renewable capacity of 176 megawatts in the first half of 2024, helping secure the country’s growing power requirements, an executive said in a recent forum.
“Our initial expansion phase focuses on developing mostly solar and wind plants with up to1,200 MW capacity. Currently, we are on track for 176 MW of RE projects to come online by the first half of 2024, with construction ongoing for an additional 218 MW,” Aboitiz Renewables Inc. president Jimmy Villaroman said during the Philippine Electric Power Industry Forum 2024.
Villaroman said AboitizPower has over 1,000 MW of new RE capacity in various stages of development.
“The second phase of AboitizPower’s expansion will see an additional capacity of around 1,700 MW of solar and wind power,” he said.
AboitizPower earlier bared its goal to build 3,700 MW of new RE capacity en route to 4,600 MW by 2030, aligned with the Philippine government’s target of a 35-percent RE share in the nation’s energy mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.
These include projects in solar, wind, geothermal, hydro and battery energy storage systems.
The company expects peak electricity demand to increase 6.6 percent annually until 2040, powering economic growth targets ranging from 6 percent to 7 percent for 2024, 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent for 2025 and 6.5 percent to 8 percent for 2026 to 2028.
“Unlike some developed nations, our transition in the Philippines, as in the rest of Asia and the Pacific, must be gradual and intelligent. It has to be well-planned; uniquely suited to each country,” Villaroman said.
“The solutions we devise must be tailor-fit to address our problems and opportunities. It cannot happen overnight and might take years, if not decades, to realize. But we believe it is possible,” he said.