When Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) President Martin Antonio “Dennis” Zamora suggested a visit to TBEA, a solar energy company in China, I knew it would be an interesting learning trip. In early August, the NAC Board and executives flew to Beijing for committee meetings at the Shangri-La. The next day, the NAC Board meeting, presided over by Chairman Jose Isidro “Lito” Camacho, took place in Urumqi, Xinjiang.

Xinjiang is a fascinating region of deserts and mountains in Northwest China, a four-hour flight from Beijing. Once a key corridor on the ancient Silk Road, it borders several countries, including Russia, Afghanistan, Tibet, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. It is also home to many ethnic cultural minorities.

Because domestic travel regulations in China prohibit non-local power banks, we all left ours with our TBEA hosts. A thoughtful surprise awaited us upon landing in Urumqi. TBEA CEO International Xiao Zhi and SVP Gao Ran welcomed us at the airport lounge with TBEA wireless power banks, which were made in China. That gesture set the tone for the days ahead.

We visited the massive TBEA 1100 kV and 750 kV transformer manufacturing facility. On the clean production floors, huge transformers were assembled with precision and accuracy by robots, guided by no less than TBEA Chairman and Founder Zhang Xin. His entrepreneurial journey began in 1988 when, at the age of 26, he ran a small street factory with a single product: 10V small transformers for black-and-white televisions. At the time, his company had total assets of less than $21,000, liabilities of $102,200, annual revenue below $14,000, and 53 employees. By the end of 2024, TBEA had become a publicly listed company and a major player in power energy with an annual revenue of $13.7 billion, assets of $29 billion, and over 30,000 employees.

When asked about TBEA’s success, Chairman Zhang credited the people. He noted that TBEA invests heavily in training, employee welfare, and research and development. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) were also evident, with women in key positions, including Zhang Huiting (Tina), Chairman of Ray Energy Engineering; Ma Yanrong (Morning), Deputy Director of Overseas Market; and Faye Juquiana, HR Manager of TBEA Subic, among others.

In the Philippines, TBEA Subic employs more than 100 staff, along with about 50 Chinese expats, including SVP Gao Ran, VP Qi Xuan, Director of the Commercial Department Xia Cunqiang (Sam), Manager Shen Kaiwang, and Marketing Manager Li Yu.

On our way to visit the 1 GW Solar and BESS Power plant site, our itinerary included a tour of the Jiangbulake scenic area, with its varied landscapes of sweeping grasslands, desert stretches with camels, and pine-covered mountain ranges reminiscent of Switzerland.

We also stopped at a coal mine (about five times larger than the Philippines' Semirara). It was remarkably clean and featured cutting-edge technology. About 400 driverless trucks were monitored in real-time through Artificial Intelligence (AI) by about 20 staff members in a control room. It was an impressive glimpse of the future happening now.

NAC, one of the world's largest nickel producers and a partner of Sumitomo Metal Mining, has diversified into renewable energy through its subsidiary, Emerging Power Inc. (EPI). CFO Angel Villamor reported that NAC's first-half profits jumped 88% to P2.1 billion, thanks to stronger nickel ore prices despite a lower volume due to weather conditions.

EPI President Roy Fernandez said that EPI owns and operates a 172-megawatt-peak (MWp) solar plant in Subic. Of that, 140 MWp was built with TBEA Subic as its Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractor. The 172 MWp plant is capable of serving the electricity needs of about 530,000 households, effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing about 48,000 gasoline-powered cars from the road. EPI is expected to boost its installed capacity to 293 MWp by the end of the year.

The trip was an eye-opener to what's possible when vision, technology, and people work together toward a shared goal. Chairman Zhang's youthful dream was to “give light” to those without electricity. Today, he is “using green energy to light up China and the world.”

The lasting impressions from the Xinjiang trip were the world-class robotic factories, spotless AI-operated mines, stunning varied landscapes, and a culture of hospitality, customer service, and excellence. This led EPI consultant Joseph Nocos to coin a fitting phrase for TBEA: “To Be Excellent Always.”