AboitizPower adds over 200 MW of RE capacity to help alleviate tight supply

Given tight supply conditions, Aboitiz Renewables, Inc. (ARI), the renewable energy (RE) arm of Aboitiz Power Corp/ (AboitizPower), announced the inclusion of the 159 megawatt peak (MWp) Laoag Solar Power Plant in Aguilar, Pangasinan (in photo) to help provide additional capacity and help minimize grid strain.

“Together with the 94 MWp Cayanga-Bugallon Solar Power facility — also built on sloping, nonagricultural land in Pangasinan and energized last October 2023 — both solar projects will account for about 200 megawatts (MW) of total sellable capacity that will eventually contribute much-needed electricity to the grid. We are eager to contribute to our country’s journey toward energy security, especially during these challenging times,” said ARI President Jimmy Villaroman.

Following these solar power projects, the 17 MW Tiwi Binary Geothermal Power Plant will also come online within the second quarter of this year. Co-located with the Tiwi Geothermal Power Plant in Albay, the binary plant harvests residual heat from the hot brine side of the geothermal production process, otherwise unutilized before reinjecting back to the earth, to produce more electricity.

Through ARI, AboitizPower’s initial expansion phase covers 1,200 MW of new capacities, which includes Laoag, Cayanga-Bugallon, Tiwi, Magat BESS, and 218 MW of projects that started construction, among others. The second phase of AboitizPower’s expansion will see another 1,700 MW of new solar and wind power.

AboitizPower had indicated its goal to build 3,700 MW of new RE capacity — including projects in solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro — en route to 4,600 MW by 2030.