Coca-Cola taps First Gen to supply renewable energy to bottling plants

By Lenie Lectura -November 1, 2018
https://businessmirror.com.ph/coca-cola-taps-first-gen-to-supply-renewable-energy-to-bottling-plants/

COCA-COLA Femsa Philippines Inc. (KOFPH), the current licensed bottler of Coca-Cola products in the country, has tapped First Gen Corp. to provide renewable energy (RE) to its bottling facilities.

KOFPH has signed on the Lopez-led First Gen’s retail electricity arms—First Gen Energy Solutions Inc. (FGES) and Bac-Man Geothermal Inc. (BGI)—for the supply of electricity from RE sources, to power Coca-Cola’s bottling facilities in La Union, Pangasinan, Pampanga and Cebu.

The agreement was implemented on October 26.

To date, approximately 40 percent of the electricity needs of Coca-Cola’s bottling operations is already being sourced from RE, which is being consumed by six of its manufacturing facilities.

In February Coca-Cola’s Santa Rosa and Canlubang plants started integrating RE into their operations. The bottling arm of Coca-Cola is committed to further strengthening its sustainable operational systems, as it enhances capabilities across its value chain.

There are 19 Coca-Cola bottling facilities all over the country.

Coca-Cola Femsa has been striving to make clean energy a more prominent part of its global manufacturing processes, in keeping with its long-standing commitment to reduce its carbonfootprint and to achieve sustainable operations, through the use of RE sources and the adoption of new technologies to further enhance operational efficiency.

This partnership between KOFPH and FGES will help the local bottling company work toward its Global 2020 Sustainability Goals on Energy: reduce the carbon footprint of Coca-Cola Femsa’s value chain by 20 percent against its 2010 global baseline; and integrate clean and renewable sources in its operations.

Coca-Cola Femsa has been working to responsibly manage its environmental footprint in all of its operations across the globe, and toward sustainable development and operational systems that champion environmental welfare. As such, the company has been continuously looking for ways to harness strategic, responsible and efficient measures for its environmental policies to take effect across its value chain.

First Gen’s portfolio of power plants runs on geothermal, hydro, wind and solar, which are renewable energy; as well as natural gas, the cleanest form of fossil fuel. With 3,490 megawatts of installed capacity, the First Gen plants account for a fourth of the country’s gross-power generation.