Listed firm Aboitiz Power Corporation has cemented a partnership agreement with Dublin-headquartered Mainstream Renewable Power for the 90-megawatt onshore wind farm project in Libmanan, Camarines Sur.

The wind farm development will be part of the investment ramping up being pushed by the Aboitiz group in the renewable energy (RE) space of the power sector – and this will serve as follow-through to the initial solar projects it had already undertaken.

According to Aboitiz Power, the joint venture deal will still be subject to regulatory approvals – and that will be concretized via acquisition by Aboitiz Renewables Inc. (ARI) of a 60-percent stake in the Libmanan onshore wind project, a venture that was started by Mainstream since 2017.

Aboitiz Power has the most diverse RE technologies on its supply portfolio – and that ranges from geothermal, hydro as well as solar; and the next to be delivered will be generated capacity from its first wind plant venture.

As noted by Aboitiz Power President and CEO Emmanuel V. Rubio, “this joint venture marks AboitizPower’s first foray into wind energy and underscores our aspiration to be a strong renewable energy partner.”

The energy investment arm of the Aboitiz conglomerate is currently the biggest power producer in the country – and in the regime of flourishing RE investments, the company is also eyeing to replicate the successful traction it already gained through investments in other technologies.

As cast by the company, it will be beefing up its RE portfolio to 4,600MW by the turn of the decade – coinciding with the timeframe set by the Department of Energy (DOE) when RE’s share in the country’s power mix would already reach a scale of 35-percent vis-à-vis installed capacity.

Rubio emphasized “the Libmanan onshore wind project with Mainstream, along with future endeavors in the pipeline will help bring us to our goal.”

He further highlighted the company’s optimism on “the realization of our renewable ambitions over the next decade, both domestically and internationally, while we continue to serve the critical baseload needs of the Philippine energy system.”

On the part of the foreign partner, Mary Quaney, chief executive officer of Mainstream, asserted that “the Philippines is one of our priority markets in the region and we are committed to working in partnership with AboitizPower to support the country’s ambitious and commendable target to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 75-percent by 2030.”

James Arnold Villaroman, president and chief operating officer of Aboitiz Renewables, similarly stated that the Libmanan wind farm development is a “shared aspiration” with its global firm partner; primarily anchored on “growing the Philippine renewable energy generation portfolio in the years to come” and will also underpin the firm’s decarbonization strategy moving forward.

“This is the beginning of an exciting new era for AboitizPower and ARI, as we take a key step towards our 10-year strategy of growing our renewable energy capacity and striking a 50:50 balance between our renewable and thermal portfolios,” he stressed