AC Energy Philippines, formerly Phinma Energy Corp., is developing 1,850 megawatts of renewable energy projects that will cost nearly $2 billion to reach its 2,000-MW target by 2025, officials said Tuesday.
Phinma Energy Corp. was renamed AC Energy Philippines following the acquisition by AC Energy Inc. in June.
The 2,000-MW RE target is a part of the 5,000-MW RE portfolio target of parent company AC Energy. The remaining 3,000 MW RE target will come from the international market. AC Energy also has RE presence in Vietnam and Australia.
“Our vision for AC Energy Philippines is to be the leader in renewable energy in the country. Our goal is to reach 2,000 MW of renewables by 2025,” AC Energy president and chief executive Eric Francia said during the annual stockholders meeting.
“With the government’s target of renewables reaching 35 percent of energy output by 2030, the country would need to build over 15 GW of renewables in the next decade. We will make significant investments in this space,” said Francia.
He said the renewable projects would be complemented by other low-carbon technologies such as gas-fired generation and energy storage.
AC Energy Philippines currently has around 150 MW of RE capacity in the Philippines that include wind, geothermal and solar power projects.
“It’s going to be primarily greenfield, that’s what the country needs. A lot of the 1,850 or 2,000 MW goal of renewables in the Philippines should be greenfield. We’ve got six years to develop…We are also open to some acquisitions,” Francia said.
Francia said the company would need to raise $600 million as equity for the new renewable projects until 2025.
“Assume roughly a million dollars per MW, that is roughly under $2 billion of the project cost if it’s almost 2,000 MW of capacity. If you assume your classic 70-30 debt to equity ratio, you’d be looking at $600 million of equity that would need to be raised until 2025,” he said.
Francia said the company’s target was to increase its RE portfolio while limiting its conventional power projects such as coal.
“So we’re saying we have a goal for RE. That goal is 5,000 MW of renewables. We don’t have a goal for attributable capacity for thermal…Our strategy is not to grow in thermal. Our strategy is to grow, scale-up in renewables. We want to limit our thermal output,” he said.
Francia said the plan is to turn around the newly acquired unit AC Energy Philippines and achieve a positive bottom line by 2020.
“We are now in the process of combining the assets and capabilities of AC Energy and Phinma Energy to form a stronger and more agile energy platform,” Francia said.
He said AC Energy’s winning bid to supply Manila Electric Co.’s power requirements would help the company’s financial turnaround.
