ACEN Posts ₱8.14 Billion Income, Up By 24%

ACEN, the renewable energy unit of the Ayala group, reported a 24% year-over-year increase in consolidated income to P8.14 billion in the first nine months of 2024.

ACEN RES expanded its customer base to 492 customers, a 105% year-over-year increase, with contracted capacity reaching 346 MW, a 44% rise. I Photo: ACEN Facebook

Performance was driven by newly operational plants, which contributed 40% of core attributable EBITDA.

This growth was supported by a 31% increase in renewable energy generation and a stabilized, strong net selling position in the Philippines’ Wholesale Electricity Spot Market. ACEN’s new renewable energy plants, operational since early 2024, played a key role in year-to-date growth in both generation output and financial performance.

New plants in the Philippines bolstered ACEN’s net seller position in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and enabled ACEN Renewable Energy Solutions (RES), the retail electricity supply unit, to expand its contracted customer base.

Core attributable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), which includes ACEN’s share from non-consolidated projects and excludes one-time items, expanded 30% over the first nine months to P14.3 billion.

Consequently, consolidated net income after tax attributable to the parent company rose to P8.14 billion, a 24% increase from last year.

This includes a P1.0 billion gain in Q3 from the acquisition of shares in Ayala Land’s Real Estate Investment Trust (AREIT) in exchange for ACEN’s 276-hectare property in Zambales—a transaction approved by ACEN’s and AREIT’s boards and disclosed in November 2023.

Total renewable output attributable to ACEN for the first nine months of 2024 reached 4,127 GWh, marking a 31% year-over-year increase. Despite the typical seasonality in wind and solar resources in its markets, primarily in the Philippines and Australia, Q3 generation rose 11% compared to last year.

ACEN’s global generation portfolio now stands at approximately 6.8 GW, with over 3 GW in fully operational assets, 2.3 GW in projects under construction, and over 1.4 GW in committed projects expected to start within the next 12 months.

In the Philippines, ACEN generated 1,370 GWh from January to September 2024—a 78% increase over the first nine months of 2023.

Of this generation, 56% came from plants launched this year, including SanMar Solar in Zambales, Pagudpud and Capa Wind in Ilocos Norte, Cagayan North Solar in Cagayan, and Arayat-Mexico Solar Phase 2 in Pampanga.

These new plants helped ACEN achieve a net seller position in the WESM, with a 34% year-on-year increase to 663 GWh.

ACEN RES also expanded its customer base to 492 customers, a 105% year-over-year increase, with contracted capacity reaching 346 MW, a 44% rise. On October 7, ACEN’s Board approved the first two phases of the Quezon North Wind complex, ACEN’s largest wind project to date, spanning Laguna and Quezon provinces.

With over 550 MW of renewable capacity across both phases, this project is expected to contribute significantly to the Philippines’ electricity demand.

In its international markets, ACEN generated 2,741 GWh—a 15% increase over the first nine months of 2023—largely due to new projects like New England Solar in Australia and Masaya Solar in India. Together with the Lac Hoa & Hoa Dong Wind project in Vietnam and the Chestnut Flats wind farm in the USA, new 2024 plants accounted for 42% of total international output.