Philippine’s AC Energy to Form Solar Rooftop JV, Posts 5% H1 Profit Rise

Philippine-based power company AC Energy Corp (PSE:ACEN) said Thursday it will form a joint venture (JV) with NEFIN Holding Ltd to develop, build and operate rooftop solar projects across Asia.

ACEN will enter into the 50/50 JV through its wholly-owned subsidiary AC Renewables International (ACRI).

The new business will have 21 MW of operating assets and will get a USD-10-million (EUR 8.4m) initial investment from ACRI to build near-term projects over the coming years. ACRI will commit to providing further funding for the JV’s pipeline.

NEFIN says it has delivered over 300 MW of utility-scale, commercial and industrial rooftop solar systems regionally. According to its announcement, the JV’s geographical scope will cover Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and Taiwan, and potentially expand to other Australasian countries.

ACEN aims to become the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia and has a target of 5,000 MW of renewables capacity by 2025.

Reporting first-half results on Wednesday, ACEN said its attributable capacity grew to 2,589 MW, including 1,047 MW under construction, from 1,659 MW in the first half of 2020. After the infusion of international assets into the listed entity, renewables now account for 80% of the company’s capacity. Its renewables portfolio doubled to 2,070 MW from 1,041 MW.

ACEN’s attributable output rose 16% year-over-year in the period to 2,224 GWh, with 52% of it coming from renewables.

Consolidated revenues grew 35% to PHP 13.4 billion (USD 266.2m/EUR 224.6m) on demand recovery from pre-pandemic levels, acquisitions and start-up of renewable energy projects. Revenue growth was offset in part by higher costs of purchased power during thermal power outages.

Net income was up 5% to PHP 2.7 billion.

(PHP 1 = USD 0.020/EUR 0.017)

(USD 1 = EUR 0.844)

Source: renewablesnow