More Wind Power Projects Charge Up Philippines

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Aboitiz Power Corp. (AboitizPower) said its renewable energy arm Aboitiz Renewables, Inc. (ARI) had entered a partnership with Vena Energy to invest in the latter’s 102-megawatt (MW) wind power project in Rizal and Laguna. The deal was inked early in July, and just this first week of August, the rollout plans have started.

“We are thrilled to partner with Vena Energy, given our shared ambition of growing the Philippine renewable energy generation portfolio in the coming years,” James Arnold D. Villaroman, ARI president and chief executive officer, said in a media release on Thursday.

The wind power project is likely to get financial close by 2024 and will commence operations by 2025, AboitizPower said.

Emmanuel V. Rubio, president and chief executive officer of AboitizPower, said the joint venture agreement between the company’s unit and Singapore-based Vena Energy will accelerate its wind energy assets.

“This underscores our aspiration to be a significant contributor to a well-managed and just energy transition that will fuel the economic progress of the country. We continue to serve the critical needs of the Philippine energy system. We are confident we are able to deliver this project for our country’s renewable energy requirements,” Rubio said.

“Through ARI, AboitizPower is taking decisive steps towards our long-term objective of growing our renewable energy capacity and striking a 50:50 balance between our renewable and thermal portfolios by 2030,” Mr. Villaroman said.

Vena Energy is a renewable energy company that owns, develops, constructs, operates, manages, and commercializes a renewable energy portfolio.

“We are confident that by combining our experience and on-the-ground capabilities, this project will make a significant impact in accelerating the energy transition in the Philippines,” said Samrinder Nehria, head of Vena Energy Philippines.

Earlier this year, Vena Energy expressed its plans to grow its renewable energy projects in the Philippines with a combined capacity of 500 MW in the next three years.

Currently, Vena Energy has around 330 MW of operating renewable energy projects in the Philippines.

Success in Vietnam

Three years ago, ARI signed a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of 100% ownership of Mekong Wind Pte. Ltd. (“Mekong Wind”) from Armstrong Southeast Asia Clean Energy Fund Pte. Ltd. The acquisition was completed in the fourth quarter of 2019. The total purchase consideration payable for the acquisition of Mekong Wind is approximately $46 million, which may be subject to certain closing adjustments.

What is significant about this Vietnam project is the technology and knowledge sharing it will have on the the new ARI project.

Mekong Wind holds 99.9% direct interest in Dam Nai Wind Power, which in turn owns and operates the 39.4-megawatt (MW) onshore wind power facility in Ninh Thuan Province, Southern Vietnam. Ninh Thuan Province boasts some of the most attractive sites for wind energy in the country.

Dam Nai Wind is one of the first wind power projects in Vietnam to have been successfully brought online, with commercial operations having commenced in late 2017.

The 2019 acquisition of Mekong Wind provides an even stronger backbone for ARI. Leveraging the experiences of Mekong Wind, the aim is to produce more where there’s the most wind — the best wind potential (in terms of meters per second of wind velocity) lies in the northern parts of Vietnam and the Philippines. Cambodia, Myanmar, and Lao and Thailand also have a potentially useful amount of wind energy as well.

However, the Philippines is listed as one of the top offshore wind potential countries — along with Brazil, India, Morocco, the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Vietnam, which can produce 3.1 terawatts combined. This is three times the installed electricity generating capacity of all EU countries, and 8 times that of the ASEAN region’s needs.

“This transaction is a milestone for AboitizPower and sets the tone for our expansion in the international market. We have announced our intentions to go international some time back and we have been prudent in looking for the right opportunity that will bring the best value for the company and our shareholders. This is such a transaction,” Erramon I. Aboitiz, AboitizPower President and CEO, said in a press statement.

AboitizPower aims to have a portfolio mix with 50:50 renewable energy and thermal capacities by 2030. Based on its website, it has around 3,962.25 MW of attributable net sellable capacity. The company placed its renewable attributable net sellable capacity at 928.42 MW. It is targeting to build 3,700 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Aboitiz executives say they want these goals to align with Philippine government’s target to generate 35% of all its electricity from renewables by 2030. This ambition goes up to 50% by 2040.