Renewable energy pioneer Raslag Corp. is gearing up for further expansion to meet its target of 1,000 megawatts-peak (MWp) by 2035 through acquisition while continuously building power plants from ground up.
Rogie Nepomuceno, president and chief executive officer of Raslag, said in an interview the company is looking at acquiring an existing power plant as part of its diversification to another RE source.
“Acquisition will help us towards our goal. We’re not as big as (the big companies in renewables). So we have to grow slowly. We cannot do it that fast. That’s why (growth strategy is) programmed for 10 years,” Nepomuceno said.
Raslag’s four power plants are all powered by solar and were all built from ground up.
Nepomuceno said the company is also eyeing a possible venture into battery energy storage system (BESS) to support its solar power business.
Nepomuceno said Raslag is actively looking for land to build more solar power plants, including in areas outside Central Luzon.
The company has recently powered up Raslag 4 and has purchased land for Raslag 5, 6, and 7.
Nepomuceno said Raslag 7 will be split into two — 7 and 8 — and are located in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija. These will be implemented ahead of Raslag 5 and 6 which encountered some issues on the site.
“We decided to go ahead with the 7 and 8 first. This is the biggest. It will have the biggest impact on the company,” said Nepomuceno who expressed confidence problems encountered with Raslag 5 and 6 will not have an impact on the company’s target.
He disclosed Raslag is eyeing up to 60 percent of an existing power plant.
“We have to go for M&A (merger and acquisition) for us to achieve the 1,000 MW. We cannot grow just organically because (RE) is really so capital-intensive,” Nepomuceno said.
The rule of thumb in the industry is, 1 MW costs around $1 million to develop, although in recent years, prices have gone down.
“If I’m not mistaken, the $1 million is now equivalent 1.3 MW because of the newer technologies. You need less land to produce electricity now,” Nepomuceno said.
Raslag will now pursue bigger projects.
“Our first few plants were small. Moving forward, we’re going to go for at least 50 MW each for each plant because that’s the capacity that’s commercially viable,” Nepomuceno said.
Raslag 7 and 8 will be at 140MW.
Raslag is also in discussion with possible suppliers for its BESS.
“There are basically two types, one is for two hours and the other for four hours. The cost is really quite prohibitive so we have to study the financial impact if we really need four hours or we’re just fine with two,” he added.
Two years into listing, Raslag’s growth has been exponential.
“Right now, we’re at 77 or 78 MW. With our current pipeline of land, we will already exceed the original goal in our prospectus (of) only 250 MW in 10 years,” Nepomuceno said.
With the push for renewables, Raslag upped this target to 1,000 MW by 2035.
Reaching that point depends on the finances.
“The hindrance is how to finance it. You could only grow so much without impacting the bottom line. We’re expanding, yet we’re giving dividends. We are not just after the capital appreciation of the stock price. In our case, we’re giving back dividends,” he added.
As one of the pioneers in the solar power industry, Raslag takes pride in contributing to the country’s goal of shifting to RE.
“We’re going to continue with our pipeline projects and we want to contribute to the effort of the Department of Energy in the transition from dirty fuel to clean renewable energy. Hopefully, that will help in nation building. We’re preserving the environment for the future. We also believe in the triple bottom line — people, planet and profit. We have to take care of the planet too. We have sustainability initiatives. Just the fact that we’re a renewable company, we’re already contributing to the country’(s RE goals). Every megawatt that we produce is a megawatt less than what dirty fuels produce,” Nepomuceno said. Irma Isip
