After working on a moving target for years, power utility giant Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has finally cemented its sustainability-linked investments to P100 billion – with capital infusion fundamentally targeted for the company’s smart grid journey as well as renewable energy (RE) installations until 2030 timeframe.

The power firm initially sorted up to P180 billion investment for sustainability, but it ended firming that up to a leaner scale for what it finally cast as long-term sustainable strategy (LTSS),
which is also its pathway to decarbonization as well as its contribution to the country’s energy security agenda that had been tied to its 4Ps pillar or its unfeigned concern for Power, Planet, People and Prosperity.

“These strategic investments are pivotal in driving Meralco’s LTSS, which aims to reduce total emissions by 20% by 2030, encompassing both direct emissions from onsite activities and indirect emissions from purchased electricity, supply chain operations, and services provided,” the company noted.

Meralco Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan emphasized that the utility firm is joining corporate-peers not just in the Philippines, but globally, on attaining coal-free energy mix by 2050 – and its solutions to a carbon neutral future would lean on suite of technologies that will range from nuclear, energy storage systems, renewables as well as digitalization and the installation of other green solutions through the operations chain of its power distribution network.

"As we pursue our decarbonization strategies, we envision a thriving society with access to education, clean water, quality healthcare, dignified livelihoods, and disaster preparedness—all in alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)," he stressed.

Restating sustainability as a well-entrenched game plan in the company’s operations and investments for the long haul, Meralco Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Ronnie L. Aperocho conveyed their investment-commitment as “capital expenditures to initiatives that not only enhance our infrastructure but also align with the government's vision for a sustainable future.”

The company indicated that “substantial capital injection will catalyze critical projects intended to fortify Meralco’s distribution network -- making it not only sustainable but also smarter and more resilient in the face of the increasing challenges posed by climate change.”

Among the core projects it will be pursuing are those on “enhancing grid reliability, reducing system loss, transitioning to natural ester oil for distribution transformers, implementing energy efficiency solutions, and expanding electric vehicle (EV) fleets and infrastructure.”

In the EV realm in particular, Meralco has started its green mobility pathway at its home base – by patronizing electric mobility first at its own business units.

In support of the country’s push for a decarbonization pathway anchored on clean energy solutions, Meralco specified that it will also be accelerating its investment pace for renewable energy (RE) projects – to be concretized via developments being pursued by its subsidiary MGen Renewable Energy, Inc. (MGreen) which is under its power generation arm Meralco PowerGen.

To date, the power firm is still primarily setting its sights on solar farm installations as well as ventures on the wind energy domain.

Meralco First Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer Raymond B. Ravelo qualified that "core to our long-term sustainability strategy are twin commitments to secure 1,500 MW of renewable energy supply contracts and to develop 1,500 MW of attributable green energy generation capacity.”

He further asserted “this underscores our dedication to our low-carbon transition and to serving the country’s growing energy demand with clean power.”

It is worth noting that one major venture being advanced to commercial fruition by MGen is the Terra Solar project which calls for 3,500 megawatts of solar installations plus 4,500 megawatt hours of energy storage system – its acquisition from Solar Philippines, that will supply 850MW of mid-merit capacity to Meralco upon its commercial operations.

Via its subsidiary Spectrum, the commercial and industrial (C&I) solar rooftops domain would be another part of the investment growth trajectory that Meralco had blueprinted in its LTSS; and it is likewise targeting to aggressively expand this to homes or residential end-users who are opting to embrace the sun as their energy source.