MANILA, Philippines — Earnings of Alsons Consolidated Resources (ACR) of the Alcantara Group surged by more than half in the first quarter, fueled by a steady power demand from its key power markets in Mindanao.
ACR reported a 67-percent jump in net income during the three-month period to P542.27 million from P324 million in the first quarter of 2022.
The company’s net earnings attributable to the parent also rose by 73 percent to P155.84 million from P90.16 million.
Revenues generated by the company during the period reached P3.31 billion, up by 24 percent from P2.67 billion last year.
ACR deputy chief financial officer Philip Edward Sagun said the company’s 210-megawatt (MW) Sarangani Energy Corp. baseload power plant in Sarangani Province and 100-MW Western Mindanao Power Corp. diesel plant in Zamboanga City remained to be its key revenue and income drivers for the quarter.
The Sarangani Energy power plant currently provides power to key areas in Mindanao including Sarangani Province, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Dipolog, Dapitan, Pagadian, Samal, Tagum, Kidapawan, and Butuan.
The Western Mindanao power plant, on the other hand, is the only major power generation facility in the Zamboanga Peninsula, providing power to Zamboanga City and supplying vital ancillary services to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines to help stabilize the power grid in the Western Mindanao region.
ACR has its sights set on building up its renewable energy capacity in the next few years, with around eight run-of-river hydroelectric power facilities in the company’s pipeline.
The first of these hydroelectric power plants is the 14.5-MW Siguil Hydro power facility currently under construction in Maasim, Sarangani.
It is eyed to begin operations before the end of this year.
ACR’s next two renewable energy facilities slated for development are a hydro and solar power project in Zamboanga del Norte with a potential combined capacity of up to 37.8 MW, and a hydro power project in the Bago River in Negros Occidental with a planned capacity of up to 42 MW.
ACR, which is Mindanao’s first private-sector power generator, currently has a portfolio of four power facilities with an aggregate capacity of 468 MW serving over eight million people in 14 cities and 11 provinces in the country’s second largest island.