The Aboitiz Group through subsidiary AP Renewables Inc. (APRI) operates the 234 megawatts Tiwi geothermal power plant in Albay, considered as the first and oldest to utilize the said resource in the country.
The plant which generates clean and reliable energy 24×7 also provides its host community with programs that help uplift the overall wellbeing of residents.
One of these efforts is the adopt-a-municipality program wherein APRI helps the local government unit (LGU) of Tiwi to develop a comprehensive and science-based approach to community disaster and climate change adaptation.
The partnership involves capacity building for the LGU’s personnel in addressing disaster risk reduction management and provisions of needed interventions such as flood early warning systems and CCTV cameras, among others.
The company also has a scholarship programs for Tiwi which has benefitted 147 college and 257 high school students since the project’s inception in 2009.
The plant which generates clean and reliable energy 24×7 also provides its host community with programs that help uplift the overall wellbeing of residents… (T)he adopt-a-municipality program… helps the local government unit…develop a comprehensive and science-based approach to community disaster and climate change adaptation.
At present, the program has 67 active scholars with the company planning to further increase its number.
Meanwhile, APRI had provided a sustainable livelihood for the locals of Tiwi through the provision of sewing machines and fishing boats.
Forty women from Tiwi were supported with livelihood restarter kits to help them recover from the economic losses brought by the pandemic. For this, APRI teamed up with the Kalipunan ng Liping Pilipina and the Association of Bamboo and Coco Craft.
APRI turned over three units of fiberglass motorized boats, fishing accessories and fuel supply to the Samahan ng mga Maliliit na Mangingisda ng Putsan that benefited at least 30 fishermen.
APRI has also worked to improve healthcare services in Tiwi through the adopt-a-health center program which aims to refurbish and repair barangay health centers as well as to provide medicines, medical equipment, personal protective equipment and furniture to the LGU.
The project which seeks to benefit more than 12,500 residents of Tiwi, also intends to bridge the gap and bring health services near the communities given the far distance of bigger public hospitals.
In 2021, Aboitiz Power Corporation (AboitizPower) said was set to expand its share in the renewable energy space, particularly in the business of harnessing energy from the sun, with a 74-megawatt (MW) solar power facility planned for Pangasinan this year.
The solar project, to be built in Cayanga in the town of Bugallon, about 13 kilometers southwest of the provincial capital of Lingayen, recently received board approval and is now in the development stage.
“We are very excited about this because this is another step towards achieving our 10-year strategy with regard to significantly increasing our RE capacity and aiming for a 50:50 balance between our Cleanergy and thermal portfolios,” AboitizPower President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel V. Rubio said.
