December 27, 2019 | 12:04 am
ABOITIZ Power Corp. has signed up
the country’s largest electric cooperative to 3 megawatts (MW) of power supply,
adding the Batangas distribution utility to the list of customers under its
clean energy brand.
In a statement on Thursday,
AboitizPower said it had closed its partnership with Batangas II Electric
Cooperative, Inc. (Batelec II) on Dec. 18.
“The Cleanergy supply will be
sourced from the Tiwi-MakBan geothermal power plants, which are being operated
and managed by AboitizPower subsidiary AP Renewables, Inc. (APRI),” the listed
company said, adding that the supply will be used by the electric cooperative
for its local retail electricity supply (RES) customers.
Cleanergy is AboitizPower’s brand
for clean and renewable energy with several hydroelectric, geothermal and solar
power generation facilities.
APRI will also supply Batelec II
with a 20-MW emergency power supply for a year, from Dec. 26, 2019 to Dec. 25,
2020. The agreement for the additional Cleanergy supply was signed on Dec. 23,
2019.
AboitizPower, the holding company
for the Aboitizes’ investments in power generation, distribution, and retail
electricity services, quoted Batelec II General Manager Octavious M. Mendoza as
saying: “We’ve been in the business for over four decades, and this is the
first time we have decided to venture into the open access business and
activate our local retail electricity supplier.”
A local retail electricity supplier
is a power distribution utility’s business segment that delivers power to
customers whose consumption reached the threshold set by the regulator. These
big power users or “contestable” customers are allowed to contract supply with
a private RES or a local RES.
“To make a difference, we have
decided to source renewable supply to serve our contestable customers. It’s
such a bold move so we need a dependable partner to support us in this
sustainability journey, and we trust AboitizPower can do just that,” Mr. Mendoza
said.
AboitizPower described the
partnership as “favorable” because APRI’s geothermal plants are in Batangas and
the neighboring province of Laguna.
Juan Alejandro A. Aboitiz,
AboitizPower first vice-president for energy trading and sales, said he was
pleased that Cleanergy was chosen as partner of choice of Batelec II.
“It’s an honor for us to serve the
growing number of customers who are pushing for a more sustainable energy
source,” he said.
So far, AboitizPower and its
partners has around 1,200 MW of Cleanergy capacity from its hydro, geothermal,
and solar power plants that are spread nationwide to support the country’s
rapidly growing demand for clean and renewable energy.
Apart from serving its contestable
customers through its local retail electricity supply business, Batelec II also
supplies electricity to its franchise area of more than 300,000 households
across 15 municipalities and two cities in Batangas. — Victor V. Saulon
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