Growing  power demand in the Mindanao grid boosted the Alcantara-led Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR) to register a 67 percent increase in net income to P542.27 million in the first quarter this year from P342 million in the same period last year. Following that level of profitability, the company similarly noted that its earnings attributable to the parent firm significantly jumped by 73 percent to P155.84 million versus a leaner P90.16 million in the same period last year. In terms of revenues, the Alcantara firm likewise logged a sizeable 24-percent growth to P3.31 billion from P2.67 billion within the same January-March stretch last year. According to ACR Deputy Chief Financial Officer Philip Edward B. Sagun, “the first quarter of 2023 saw steady power demand from our key power markets in Mindanao,” adding that their 210 megawatt (MW) Sarangani Energy Corporation (SEC) coal-fired facility and the 100 MW Western Mindanao Power Corporation (WMPC) diesel plant in Zamboanga City had been held as the income-drivers within the covered financial review period. The Mindanao power grid is a core market for the Alcantara group; and its Sarangani plant has been catering to the electricity service needs of customers in Sarangani Province, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Dipolog, Dapitan, Pagadian, Samal, Tagum, Kidapawan, and Butuan. For WMPC diesel facility, the main area it is servicing is Zamboanga Peninsula – primarily  the customers of Zamboanga City; while also supplying critical ancillary services needs of system operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines “to help stabilize the power grid in the Western Mindanao Region.” With the dependable income it has already been raising from its thermal assets, Alsons reiterated that its onward investment trajectory will be on renewable energy (RE) installations, with initial sharp focus on its line-up of eight (8) run-of-river hydroelectric power facilities already being advanced to implementation phases. The first one to come-on line will be its 14.5-megawatt Siguil hydropower facility, which is sited in Sarangani province and has already been inching close to construction completion. The targeted kick off of its commercial operations will be by the end of this year. “The next two renewable energy facilities slated for development are a hydro and solar power project in Zamboanga del Norte with a potential combined capacity of up to 37.8 MW, and a hydro power project in the Bago River in Negros Occidental with a planned capacity of up to 42 MW,” the company stressed. To date, the power generation portfolio of the Alcantara group stands at 468MW and these were mainly on thermal generation; while greenfield projects moving forward will be RE facilities.