SM Prime, AboitizPower ink power supply deal

SM Prime Holdings Inc. has tapped Aboitiz Power Corp. as one of its new suppliers for reliable retail electricity to meet its growing power requirements amid continuous expansion.

SM Prime and AboitizPower have entered into a three-year retail electricity supply contract for the supply of up to 110 megawatt to supply 15 of SM’s facilities.

“With our continuous expansion in the coming years, we need a power supplier that will enable us to support our existing and future partners with reliable and cost-effective power. We believe that AboitizPower, with its extensive power generation assets, can provide what we are looking for,” SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim said.

Under the contract, AboitizPower will supply 50 MW in the first year, and 30 MW in the second and third year.

The power firm will source the supply from its power facility in Pagbilao, Quezon, and its other power plants under its portfolio.

“It’s not restricted to one portfolio, but for as long as they can provide the 50 to 110 MW of energy,” SM Prime chief financial officer John Ong said.

The RES contract will support SM Prime’s growth, expansion and development of new malls in the next few years, Lim said.

“As we go forward, there are new facilities (being built)…ongoing mall constructions also in provinces like Camarines Norte, Daet, Sorsogon,” he said.

The deal with AboitizPower forms part of SM Prime’s efforts to get all of its malls under RES contracts.

Currently, SM Prime has 72 malls in the country, of which 80 percent are being supplied by three to four RES contractors, including AboitizPower.

AboitizPower first vice president for energy trading Sandro Aboitiz said this is the first RES partnership between the company and the SM Group.

At 110-MW supply, the SM Prime contract will account for about six to seven percent of AboitizPower’s RES portfolio.

“It’s about 700 MW and that doesn’t include our affiliates,” Aboitiz said.

With its portfolio of renewable energy and thermal power plants located all over the country, AboitizPower and its partners, currently have a net sellable capacity of 4,471 MW. –