SMC lines up 10,000 MW RE projects

The energy investment arm of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) lines up massive capital outlay for 10,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy (RE) capacity that the company will be advancing to commercial fruition in the next 10 years.

“San Miguel will invest heavily in renewable energy and battery storage. We predict to invest up to 10,000 megawatts in the next 10 years,” SMC President Ramon S. Ang told reporters. He did not mention the investment requirement.

The RE technologies that the company will be installing include those on hydropower, solar, wind and ocean tidal project developments.

The diversifying conglomerate indicated though that it will still need to re-assess project blueprint across technology developments – giving consideration to limitations posed by each RE resource.

Asked on the specific megawatts eyed per technology, Ang said “those are still being planned.”

But where targets are feasible, he noted that they are looking at largescale hydropower facilities.

For one, Ang emphasized that while the cost of solar of technology had already been on precipitous decline, there are constraints on their development not just on site acquisition but the level of generation they can provide for the grid.

Previously, the company announced that it will be selecting strategic partners that are Asian companies on planned solar power installations.

The San Miguel group has so far indicated keen interest on tidal energy development as well as the installation of battery storage – whether on the conglomerate’s existing plants or on its prospective RE installations.

“The idea is to put up as many as possible (battery storage)... if possible, in all of our power plants,” Ang stressed.

On San Miguel’s RE developments, however, the company will need to weigh the development lineup based on market share limitation of each generation company (GenCo) set forth under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.

And by far, what is being targeted by the SMC group on its RE project milieu will be more than half of the 15,000MW that the government has been eyeing under the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) policy on a timeframe concluding in 2030.