ACEN, CleanTech to build 133-MW Cagayan solar plant

AC ENERGY Corp. (ACEN) on Monday announced it had finalized forming a joint venture company with its subsidiary ACE Endevor, Inc. and CleanTech Renewable Energy 4 Corp. to build a 133-megawatt (MW) solar project.

The joint venture company Natures Renewable Energy Development Corp. (Naredco) will develop, own, and operate the solar plant and transmission line in Lal-lo, Cagayan by the second quarter of this year.

Naredco will construct the solar farm and transmission line in a 115-hectare land in Brgy. Magapit and Brgy. Sta. Maria, which will connect to the 69-kilovolt Lal-lo substation through a 3-kilometer transmission line by the second quarter of this year.

“We are delighted to be working with CleanTech to help accelerate our country’s shift to a low carbon economy and add more renewables capacity to our existing 3,300 MW,” said ACEN Chief Development Officer Jose Maria P. Zabaleta in a statement.

In December, ACEN and ACE Endevor bought the 60% stake in Naredco, leaving CleanTech with a 40% stake in the renewable energy development company.

“There is much work to be done, but step by step and together with our partners, we will lead the way towards a sustainable future,” Salvador Antonio R. Castro, Jr., president and chief executive officer of CleanTech.

The projects are being eyed to be operational by early next year. Once completed, it is expected to produce 188 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy every year, enough to power 75,000 households while avoiding approximately 112,405 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

ACEN aims to become the biggest listed energy platform in Southeast Asia as it plans to put up 5,000 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2025.

In 2021, along with the Ayala group, it also committed to achieve net zero — the balance between the greenhouse gas it produces and what it removes — by 2050.

Shares in ACEN at the local bourse went up by 8 centavos or 0.96% to close at P8.38 apiece on Monday. — Marielle C. Lucenio