One of the country’s largest electricity producers—one that is heavily reliant on coal—surprised market watchers recently by announcing a strategic shift away from the cheap but environmentally damaging power source. At the same time, San Miguel Corp. (SMC) said it would be adding renewable energy to its power portfolio, using technologies that would significantly cut…
AC Energy is a fast-expanding corporation on a singular mission: to become the largest publicly listed renewables platform, not just in the Philippines but in the whole of Southeast Asia. It may seem a far too lofty goal, but not for the 10-yearold energy arm of the Ayala group of companies, which is well on…
They are among the heaviest users of energy—to power shopping malls, factories or mine sites. They can opt to buy everything from power producers but they now find it sensible to convert free resources around them—such as sunlight or agro-industrial waste—to meet more of their energy requirements. It’s not a cheap process but the cost…
The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), which now holds office and runs a more compact unified trading floor at Bonifacio Global City, switched power providers in February this year, from one that relied on coal-fired power plants to another that uses renewable energy. The PSE, after all, is the first stock exchange in the world to…
The country’s power players are leading the charge into renewable energy (RE), rolling out projects to meet growing demand while keeping an eye on the future with investments in innovation and new technologies. These industry movers include AC Energy Corp., which is looking at proven solutions it can deploy at scale, and Aboitiz Power Corp.,…
While the coronavirus pandemic dragged down the domestic economy to its worst recession in history last year, hurting profitability of many companies, there was one company that defied gravity in the stock market. The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 8.64 percent last year, but the stock price of this company soared by 304…
On the surface, coal power makes for a compelling business proposition. It is the cheapest fossil fuel in terms of energy content. It is relatively abundant, and relies on proven technology to generate electricity that is safe to operate and efficient. It is also reliable, with coal-fired plants having the ability to provide so-called baseload…
SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. (SMHCC) has expressed its support for the United Nations Environment Program campaign to phase out single-use plastics in the tourism sector. It has partnered with the Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc. (PCEPSDI) under the Transforming Tourism Value Chains (TVC) Project and the Department of Tourism through…
A year after debuting on the local stock exchange, real estate investment trust (REIT) first-mover AREIT Inc. announced that it was on track to achieve carbon neutrality by the end of the year as it committed to attain net zero greenhouse gas emission by end-2022. From an initial public offering (IPO) price of P27 per…
More corporations across Asia-Pacific are embracing the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda, showing that sustainability is gaining traction in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, based on a new report from global banking giant Citi. According to a survey conducted by Citi, stated they already have ESG policies and practices integrated in their corporate…