Climate change and its impacts are increasingly felt across the globe, and the Philippines, with its exposure to climate-related hazards such as typhoons, floods, and droughts, is in a particularly vulnerable spot. Despite a decline in human and industrial activity in the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the threat to the environment continues to grow, but the global recession means that both governments and private organizations face steep challenges, with resources and efforts redirected toward recovery and mitigation. The pandemic has thrown into even greater relief the need for responses that balance short-term needs and long-term goals by addressing the losses of the past year while continuing to support sustainability and conservation.
In this new reality, SN Aboitiz Power Group (SNAP) remains committed to environmental sustainability through programs that aim to preserve and restore natural resources, develop its host communities, and support business partners by providing responsible energy that is renewable, reasonable, and reliable. It aims to be a company that empowers employees, businesses, communities, and the country toward a sustainable future. This goal is anchored on SNAP’s purpose of powering positive change; that the change that comes from power generation and supply need not be harmful and can be a force that uplifts and improves businesses and communities in the country.
SNAP continues to explore ways to increase and expand its existing 100% renewable energy portfolio. Following its acquisition of the Ambuklao and Binga hydropower facilities in 2008, it deployed its technical expertise to re-operate the Ambuklao plant and increase its capacity from 75 to 105 megawatts (MW); and to refurbish and update the Binga facility from 100 to 140 MW. In 2017, the company completed the first hydro plant it built from the ground up– the 8.5-MW Maris run-of-river hydro plant in Isabela. It utilizes the water flowing from the adjacent 388-MW Magat hydro plant that goes into the re-regulating dam. Two years later, SNAP inaugurated its first non-hydro venture: the Magat pilot floating solar. The 200-kW floating solar is one of the first in the country and the largest in terms of capacity. While all power sources are essential especially during a pandemic, renewable sources are emerging as a better choice. In addition to their environmental benefits, renewable sources do not rely on imported materials to produce power, thus protecting them from global supply chain disruption.
As a renewable energy producer that provides responsible energy, the company supplies the power requirements of its customers without harming the environment. One way it does this is by participating in government programs such as the Green Energy Option Program (GEOP). SNAP was among the first to secure a GEOP supplier license from the Department of Energy, allowing the company to supply 100% renewable energy to the GEOP contestable market. The program aligns with SNAP’s own sustainability goals, allowing it to supply renewable energy to more end-users without compromising the well-being of the environment.
With its plans to expand its RE portfolio to include other renewable energy sources, the company also contributes to achieving the national target of 35% renewable energy in the power generation mix by 2030.
For SNAP, the key to achieving this future is by fulfilling its sustainability goals via a two-pronged approach: through its corporate social responsibility and sustainability program; and through its operations, by developing and operating world-class renewable energy facilities and supplying responsible energy to its business and community partners.
“This can only be done by working together and forging strong and solid relationships with our partners,” says SNAP President and CEO Joseph Yu. “It is only by working together that we can power through to a sustainable future especially during this challenging time. As a responsible partner, we will continue to work for a greener and more progressive future for businesses, communities, and the country.” #
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