ACEN Corp., the Ayala group’s renewable energy arm, reported a 61.5% increase in its attributable net income to P3.57 billion for the second quarter, driven by the operationalization of new solar and wind farms and a significant reduction in costs.
Revenues declined by 16.6% to P9.45 billion from P11.33 billion; however, costs and expenses went down by 34.8% to P5.97 billion from P9.16 billion, ACEN said in its regulatory filing on Thursday.
For the six-month period, ACEN’s attributable net income rose by 48.7% to P6.29 billion from P4.23 billion a year ago.
This was attributed to the 42% growth in attributable renewable energy generation, as well as an improved net selling position in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the trading floor of electricity.
“We have strong momentum on the back of a robust increase in operating earnings and steady progress with our project pipeline,” ACEN President and Chief Executive Officer Eric T. Francia said.
“We have won several new projects that we expect to add to our capacity within the next six to twelve months. We remain on track with our goal of achieving 20 GW (gigawatt) of renewables capacity by 2030.”
As of end-June, the company’s attributable renewables capacity was 4.8 GW, 69% of which is already fully or partially operational.
ACEN’s total attributable renewables output increased by 42% to 2,908 gigawatt-hours (GWh).
Broken down, its renewable energy plants in the Philippines generated 1,015 GWh in the first half, up 77% from last year.
ACEN has operationalized solar and wind farms in the first half which are the 385- megawatt-(MW) phases 1 and 2 San Marcelino Solar in Zambales; the 160-MW Pagudpud Wind and 70-MW Capa Wind in Ilocos Norte; the 133-MW Cagayan North Solar in Cagayan, and the second phase of the 116-MW Arayat-Mexico Solar joint venture in Pampanga.
In turn, the company’s net seller position in the WESM rose by 80% to 606 GWh, supported by the said operationalized plants.
Attributable renewables output from ACEN’s international assets went up by 28%, generating 1,893 GWh.
Large-scale projects were commissioned this year, namely the 522-MW first phase of New England Solar in Australia, the 420-MW Masaya Solar in India, and the 60-GW Lac Hoa and Hoa Dong Wind in Vietnam.
The 287 MW first phase of the SUPER solar platform in Vietnam, which was acquired last year, was also added to ACEN’s generation portfolio.
Currently, ACEN holds about 4.8 GW of attributable renewables capacity in operation and under construction, as well as signed agreements and won competitive tenders worth over one GW.
Meanwhile, its listed subsidiary Enex Energy Corp. has trimmed its net loss to P10.83 million for the second quarter from nearly P15 million booked last year.
Expenses for the quarter were relatively flat during the period which was at P4.38 million from P4.37 million previously, the oil and gas exploration company told the local bourse in a separate regulatory filing.
For the six months ending in June, its second-quarter net loss narrowed to P23.04 million from P29 million a year earlier. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera