SunStar File
SunStar File

SPC Power ventures into RE projects

LISTED firm SPC Power Corp. is dipping its hands in renewable energy (RE) this year.

SPC Power Corp. chairman Alfredo Henares said Friday, May 28, 2021 that the company is eyeing investments in renewables particularly in solar, battery and hydro.

“Our company has been looking seriously at projects in solar and battery of the RE space. In fact, we have closely reviewed them. We will be making investments in batteries but while our efforts in solar (energy) still have to yield some good results, this is an area we are looking deeply into,” said Henares during the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting held virtually.

According to Henares, the firm’s exploration in battery is progressing.

“Hopefully, we will have favorable conclusion to that investment this year. The one in solar is still behind, but we are evaluating the possibilities of other solar projects probably later this year and early next year,” he noted.

The Cebu-based company is also mulling to enter into a joint venture partnership for its planned investments in hydro.

SPC Power Corp. ended 2020 with a consolidated income of P1.6 billion, down 9.6 percent from P1.8 billion in the same stretch in 2019.

“All business segments posted lower income in 2020 mainly due to low power demand and increased competitive pressure of power supply,” said Henares.

The Mactan Electric Company (Meco), which is one of SPC Power’s associates, suffered a decline in commercial performance due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meco’s peak demand went down by 2.7 percent to 90.7 megawatts (MW) in 2020 from 93.2 MW in 2019. Its total energy sales also declined by 11 percent to 497 MW hours in 2020 from 559 MW hours in 2019.

“In addition to the Covid-19 pandemic, our industry faces challenges of increasing competition, change in regulatory environment and the tectonic shift from the use of fossil fuel to renewable energy. These will affect all our operations and invested companies, particularly those whose power sale contracts are up for bidding in the next few years,” said Henares.

Morever, SPC Power is optimistic of the prospects in the upcoming quarters due to the gradual reopening of the economy.

SPC’s subsidiaries are Bohol Light Company Inc., SPC Island Power Corp., SPC Malaya Power Corp. and SPC Electric Company Inc. The company’s associates are Meco and Kepco SPC Power Corp. (KOC)

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