Sunday,
May 6, 2012
PROPELLED
by higher demand for electricity mainly due to increased economic activity in
the country, AboitizPower Corp., the energy unit of Aboitiz Equity Ventures,
registered a net income of P5.6 billion in the first quarter of 2012, up by 10
percent as compared to same period last year.
"Our
revenue growth during the first quarter was propelled by a higher demand for
energy, something that we foresee because of the higher levels of economic
activity," Erramon Aboitiz, president and CEO of AboitizPower, said.
He said
the power company has anticipated this increased demand for electricity
"by building the right mix of energy sources in its generating portfolio
to be able to deliver better power solutions to customers at reasonable and competitive
prices."
AboitizPower
is also set to pour in P170 billion in new investments, particularly in
Mindanao.
Aboitiz
said these new investments in the power sector will help provide solutions to
the growing demand for energy in the country.
"AboitizPower
will participate in the development of various greenfield projects, both hydro
and clean coal, in the next three to five years," he said.
In
Mindanao alone, to ease the critical power shortage on the island, Aboitiz has
committed to invest P35 billion to add 354 MW of new capacity by 2015.
"We
will also rehabilitate existing plants to maximize capacity and improve
reliability. We estimate the combined cost for new projects and rehabilitation
to reach P170 billion," Aboitiz said.
The
Cebu-based company's power generation business recorded an income contribution
of P5.1 billion, posting a modest three percent increase from 2011.
This was
propelled by a 34 percent average increase in the price of electricity in the
Wholesale Electricity Spot Market due to both supply and demand conditions in
the Luzon Grid.
The
average plant outages in Luzon were higher than last year, which curtailed
available capacity. The hotter climate was one of the factors that led to the
increase in power requirements.
AboitizPower's
attributable net generation for the quarter grew by 13 percent to 2,452 GWh.
As of
quarter end, AboitizPower's attributable capacity was at 2,350 MW, posting a 15
percent from last year.
"The
growth was due to the full ownership of and control over the 70-MW Bakun hydro
run-of-river plant, the acquisition of the 242-MW Navotas power barges in May
2011, the full completion of the rehabilitation of the Ambuklao hydropower
facility and the completion of the 4-MW Irisan hydropower greenfield project in
September 2011, and the partial completion of the rehabilitation works at the
Binga hydropower facility.," Aboitiz said.
In the
power distribution business, expansions in volumes and margins resulted to a 61
percent growth year-on-year, from P454 million to P733 million.
"Information
systems and a reliable and flexible network are at the heart of our efficiency,
thus our distribution group is working double time to improve our systems and
to upgrade our network infrastructure to better serve our growing residential,
commercial and industrial customers," Aboitiz said.
Published in the Sun.Star Davao
newspaper on May 07, 2012.
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