ACEN jacks up capital spending to P70B in 2025

ACEN Corp., the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group, is looking at spending at least P70 billion on its projects next year.

The company said the investment may even go “above P80 billion depending on project timing and other factors.”

The figures were higher than the estimated P50 billion in capital expenditures for full year 2024.

ACEN, which also has a presence in foreign markets like the United States, Australia and Vietnam, has been accelerating its renewable power generating capacity buildup.

Currently, the firm has a global generation portfolio of 6,800 megawatts (MW)—with 45 percent of this already operating, 34 percent under construction and the remaining committed, or have been green-lighted by the company’s board.

With such amounts of investment, ACEN is bullish about hitting its target of 20,000 MW of renewable capacity by 2030.

At a recent briefing with reporters, its president and CEO Eric Francia bared that its unit ACEN Australia secured a contract to build a 900-MW wind park in Australia, dubbed the “Valley of the Winds.”

ACEN also said expanding the project to include a battery energy storage system is on the table.

Once operational by 2030, about 500,000 homes can benefit from the wind power plant, according to ACEN.

The group did not disclose how much it plans to spend on the project.

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“The Valley of the Winds Project is still subject to a final investment decision, which will be made at the appropriate time,” it said in a disclosure on Friday.

For the first nine months of 2024, ACEN saw a 24-percent jump in its profit, hitting P8.14 billion.

In the third quarter alone, the company realized gains amounting to P1 billion from Ayala Land’s acquisition of its Zambales property.

Core attributable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization also surged by 30 percent to P14.3 billion.

The company attributed this strong financial performance to new plants it activated during the period.