AC Energy clears venture with German solar firm’s affiliate

THE management of Ayala-led AC Energy Corp. has given the greenlight for the firm to enter into a joint venture with an affiliate of German solar firm ib vogt GmbH to develop solar projects in the country with an initial 300 megawatts of direct current (MWdc).

“At its meeting held today (Aug. 25), the company’s executive committee (execom) approved the following: … The entry into a joint venture with ib vogt Singapore Pte Ltd. for the development of solar projects in the Philippines with an initial target of 300 MWdc of generating capacity,” AC Energy told the local bourse in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

ib vogt Singapore Pte Ltd. is an affiliate of ib vogt GmbH, a German company which specializes in developing and delivering large-scale turnkey photovoltaic plants.

AC Energy also disclosed that its execom had approved the respective capital expenditure (capex) budgets of the firm’s planned solar project of around 288 MW in Buguey and Lal-lo, Cagayan; and its proposed 275-MW expansion of its Gigasol Palauig solar project in Zambales.

The company provided no further details on the capex figures.

AC Energy, which also has a presence in India, previously announced that it had switched on two of its maiden solar farms with an aggregate capacity of 210 megawatts peak (MWp) in the country.

The two facilities are the 140-MWp Sitara Solar plant in the Jodhpur district of the Rajasthan state, and the 70-MWp Paryapt Solar project in the Amreli district of the Gujarat state.

AC Energy, the Ayala group’s listed energy platform, has about 2,600 MW of attributable capacity in the Philippines, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Australia.

The company aspires to become the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia, as it hopes to reach 5,000 MW of renewables capacity by 2025.

Shares in AC Energy at the local bourse inched down 1.18% or 11 centavos to finish at P9.20 apiece on Thursday. —

Angelica Y. Yang