AC Energy Holdings Inc., the power arm of Ayala Corp., is looking at Mindanao as a growth market, a top executive said over the weekend.
AC Energy John Eric Francia told reporters an electricity spot market in Mindanao would support the expansion of energy sector in the region.
“This is the right time for Mindanao to have a spot market. It’s the first time in decades for Mindanao to have oversupply,” AC Energy president and chief executive John Eric Francia told reporters.
Francia urged electric cooperatives in the region to embrace the planned wholesale electricity spot market in Mindanao. WESM is the country’s trading floor of electricity operated by the Philippine Electricity Market Corp.
PEMC earlier said it would conduct an assessment of Mindanao’s readiness to integrate the interim Mindanao electricity market to WESM with the entry of new power plants.
“There are talks [for WESM Mindanao] but there are also resistance…Not all coops [electric cooperatives] are on board at this time. We have to look forward that given the over capacity situation is likely to stay,” Francia said.
He said electric cooperatives in Mindanao should embrace the spot market as it would give them the chance to buy cheaper power.
“There are opportunities here and there in Mindanao notwithstanding oversupply,” including renewable energy projects.
“We are also hopeful that subsea cable will happen sooner than later,” he said. The underwater cable is seen to link Mindanao to the Visayas, thereby enabling it to export power to the grid.
Francia said AC Energy would also be active in retail electricity suppliers market, with around “50 megawatts” in the next three yeas as a starting point.
Retail electricity suppliers supply power to the contestable market or those customers with a demand of one megawatt and above.
Francia also urged the government to give some “clarity” on the planned power generation mix, adding there should be more incentives for liquefied natural gas projects including the terminal.
AC Energy is investing P80 billion to have 2,000 MW of attributable capacity by 2020.
