AboitizPower eyeing to hike capacity by 2000 megawatts

CEBU, Philippines - Aboitiz Power Corp. (AboitizPower) is eyeing to increase its power capacity by 2,000 megawatts in the next five years as it continues to explore expansion opportunities locally and overseas considering to continue to develop both renewable and conventional sources of energy.

Manny Rubio, chief operating officer of AboitizPower, said yesterday the company is considering to continue to develop both renewable and conventional sources of energy.

"We would really want to focus on renewable but I don't think it's practical given the demand, the cost and the limitations," Rubio told reporters. "But whenever there are opportunities in developing renewables, we would consider them."

This year, according to Rubio, the listed power unit of holding firm Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) has earmarked P52 billion capital expenditure for its generation projects.

Rubio said that while there are still a lot of opportunities in the Philippines power sector, same opportunities are also available overseas and the company wants to explore them as well.

In September this year, the power firm said it acquired a participating stake in a geothermal project in Indonesia, marking its maiden international venture.

Subsequently, AboitizPower also ventured into partnership that would allow it to participate in the development of a hydro project in the same Southeast Asian country.

"We're just exploring at the moment in both geothermal and hydro in Indonesia. If exploration activities would be positive, then we'll consider," the official said, noting the company could not tell yet how much it has to spend for its overseas ventures.

"We are exploring in Indonesia already. We believe it is the most promising because of its population and policies. But we're not limiting our option to Indonesia, we're also considering Vietnam and Myanmar," he said.

AboitizPower currently has an attributable power portfolio totaling about 2,400 MW from coal, geothermal, hydro and oil-based facility sources. It currently has 915 MW of renewable energy.

In Cebu, Therma Visayas Inc., the joint venture between AboitizPower and Vivant Corp., is building a 300-MW coal-fired power plant in Toledo town, expected to commercially operate three years from now.

AEV is the listed holding firm of Aboitiz-owned businesses in real estate, food, banking and power.