The wind mills in the northern Philippine province of Ilocos Norte are among the renewable energy … [+]
ACEN—controlled by the Philippines’ oldest conglomerate, Ayala Corp.—is increasing capital expenditures this year by 37% to as much as 70 billion pesos ($1.3 billion) to accelerate the company’s expansion across the Asia-Pacific.
The Philippine-listed company said on Monday that it is investing about $250 million to build renewable energy projects in India in partnership with U.S.-based BrightNight. The partners plan to build and operate over 1.2 gigawatts of hybrid wind and solar energy projects across India, including a 100-megawatt power plant in the western state of Maharashtra, the second-most populous region in the country.
“With this partnership, we are significantly strengthening our foothold in India’s fast-growing market as we shift from pure play solar to multi-technology renewables,” Patrice Clausse, CEO of ACEN International, said in a statement. The Philippine-listed energy company has a portfolio of solar farms with a combined capacity of 630 megawatts across India.
ACEN has been accelerating the roll out of its renewable energy projects as it pursues its goal of producing 20 gigawatts of electricity from clean energy technologies such as solar and wind power by 2030. Besides India and the Philippines, the company has been expanding in Australia and Vietnam in recent years.
In January, the company jump started the construction of its second large-scale solar farm in Australia with the awarding of the A$800 million ($567 million) project in Stubbo, a farming community north of Sydney, to Canada’s PCL Construction. At the same time, ACEN is investing 16 billion pesos to build a 300-megawatt solar farm in Zambales province, north of Manila.
To support its projects, ACEN said last week it will increase capital expenditures this year. The expansion overseas helped boost the company’s earnings, with its consolidated net profit jumping 52% to 13.1 billion pesos in 2022, supported by new power plants coming online in India and Vietnam.
ACEN is one of the subsidiaries of Ayala Corp., which traces its roots to 1834 when the Philippines was a colony of Spain. The conglomerate started as a distillery in Manila and then expanded into banking, hotels, real estate and telecommunications.
Jaime Zobel de Ayala, 88, was ranked the country’s eighth-richest person with a net worth of $2.55 billion when the list of the Philippines’ 50 Richest was published in August. The family patriarch retired in 2006, and his eldest son Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, who had been the CEO of Ayala Corp. since 1994, succeeded him as chairman.