Following the commercial operations of its newly completed 120-megawatt Alaminos solar farm project, Ayala-led AC Energy Corporation indicated that it is targeting to double its solar capacity this year to 552MW.

The company’s solar portfolio currently stands at 276MW – and the newest to beef up its capacity is the Alaminos solar venture that is sited in Laguna province.

In a statement to the media, AC Energy emphasized that its Alaminos solar farm facilty will serve as a “critical support to remediate the ongoing power shortage.”

The company added “we have another 276MW of renewables capacity under construction in the Philippines, with plans to double this capacity before the end of the year.

The first solar plant of the company that came on stream commercially this year was its 63MW Gigasol Palauig solar in Zambales province.

Eric T. Francia, president and CEO of AC Energy said their company “already added 183MW of solar capacity to the grid earlier this year.”

In tandem with these RE installations, he stated that the next facility that will come on-line this year is the firm’s 150-megawatt Ingrid thermal power plant in Pililla, Rizal, that can help meet Luzon’s need for peaking capacity.

“We are pleased to add much-needed capacity to the grid as electricity remains tight,” Francia stressed; while citing that the Alaminos solar farm is the second largest of such technology type in the country, “and can generate enough power to supply clean energy to approximately 80,000 homes.”

In the Alaminos solar installation, AC Energy said it integrated a circular approach in the solar farm’s construction site – and this prompted upcycling of some 32,540 kilograms of plastic waste into eco-bricks and subsequently utilized in the facility’s construction aside from the carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) emissions avoidance of 111,034.37 metric tons.

Next in the company’s line-up of project completions are its 4MW Bataan RE Tech Hub; the 40MW Alaminos battery storage project in Laguna; 72MW Arayat-Mexico solar facility in Pampanga; and 160MW wind project in Ilocos Norte.

According to AC Energy Chief Development Officer Jose Maria Zabaleta, all of their RE projects would be “critical additions to the energy space as a disruptive power shortage persists.”

He qualified that “in further augmenting our generating capacity amidst the pandemic, we were able to build a solid platform from which we can continue our rapid renewables acceleration in the region, while also helping the country to build back better.”

Zabaleta similarly noted that in advancing these RE projects despite the restrictions posed by the global health crisis “we were able to create jobs and help build economic resilience while playing a significant role in aiding the country’s energy security.”