Team size: 30  

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

As ACEN works towards achieving its publicly disclosed target of 20GW of attributable renewables capacity by 2030, the ACEN Legal team is involved in all greenfield development projects and M&A activities not just in the Philippines but also in other countries within the Asia Pacific region.  Quite recently, ACEN inaugurated the first phase of its 160MW wind power project in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, Philippines (May 2023) and the first phase of its 720MW solar farm in Uralla, New South Wales, Australia.  ACEN, as part of an international consortium, also recently signed non-recourse financing agreements for the 600MW Monsoon wind farm and 500kV transmission line project in Lao PDR that will supply capacity to Vietnam, which is the first ever cross-border wind project in Southeast Asia.  ACEN Legal has been an enabling strategic partner of the project and deal teams for these projects.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?  

In-house lawyers should evolve and become more than just providers of legal advice.  We should act as strategic and enabling partners, who not only identify issues in projects and transactions but also provide solutions, structures, and ways to move forward and address challenges.  By conducting ourselves and acting as true partners of business, embedding ourselves in the various business processes and discussions, with the initiative and foresight to not only think about current deals and short-term issues but also about endeavours and strategies that benefit the company in the long term (such as changes to regulatory rules and legislation), we gain and strengthen the trust and confidence of business units in us, in-house lawyers.

Can you talk about you or your company’s efforts on renewability, sustainability, or other environmentally friendly activities?  

ACEN aspires to be a renewables and sustainability leader not just in the Philippines but in the Asia Pacific region and has announced the following near term, medium term, and long-term goals and targets: to achieve 5 GW of attributable renewable energy (RE) capacity by 2025; to transition to 100% RE generation capacity by 2025; to achieve 20 GW of attributable RE capacity by 2030; to become the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia; and to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050

ACEN is an advocate of just energy transition and of responsible divestment of thermal assets. To responsibly transition its legacy thermal assets (part of its previous M&As) and achieve 100% RE generation by 2025, in November 2022, ACEN undertook and implemented an energy transition mechanism (“ETM”) involving its 246MW SLTEC coal plant to enable its early retirement (with operating life cut in half) and transition to cleaner technology.  ACEN’s ETM is regarded as the first ever market-based ETM in the world and was inspired by the Asian Development Bank’s ETM concept that aims to leverage low-cost and long-term funding geared towards early coal retirement and the reinvestment of proceeds to enable renewable energy projects. ACEN is looking to replicate its successful ETM for SLTEC to transition its few other remaining thermal assets by 2025.

In 2021, ACEN announced its commitment to achieve Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. ACEN was among the very first Philippine companies to make this announcement.  This involves the transition of ACEN’s generation portfolio to 100% renewable energy by 2025, and early retirement of the remaining coal plant that forms part of its energy transition initiatives by 2040.  In March 2023, ACEN announced and released its Net Zero roadmap, including GHG emissions reductions targets, to: (a) achieve near-term emission reduction targets in 2030, (b) achieve long-term emission reduction targets in 2040; and (c) neutralise residual emissions by 2050 and meet Net Zero ambition.

I am part of ACEN’s ESG Committee which spearheads the development and implementation of ACEN’s sustainability targets and strategies including its net zero roadmap.  As General Counsel and assistant corporate secretary, I also lead governance efforts to ensure that ACEN does not just comply with Philippine legal requirements and global best practices, but to also become a leader in sustainable governance particularly in the Philippines.  Finally, as one of the senior management leaders of ACEN, I am part of the thinking process to ensure that ACEN’s strategies and plans are sustainable and that ESG commitments are embedded in all our decisions and actions.