Ayala-Backed AC Energy Green Lights Second Large-Scale Solar Farm Project In Australia

AC Energy—a unit of billionaire Jaime Zobel de Ayala’s Ayala Corp.—is jump-starting the construction of its second large-scale solar farm in Australia, accelerating the expansion of its renewable energy foot print across Asia Pacific.

With A$800 million ($551 million) in funding commitment from Ayala Corp., AC Energy Australia said Tuesday it has awarded the contract for the construction of the 520-megawatt direct current solar farm in Stubbo, a farming community about 230 kilometers north of Sydney, to Canada’s PCL Construction.

Expected to be completed in 2025, the Stubbo solar project is a critical part of AC Energy’s goal of reaching its renewable energy target of 20 gigawatts by 2030, Sech Zabaleta, chief development officer of AC Energy said in a statement.

The Stubbo solar farm—which includes provisions for 200 megawatt battery energy storage—can produce enough electricity to power 185,000 average Australian homes. The Philippine-based company is set to complete the construction of the 720-megawatt solar farm in the New England town of Uralia, about 530 kilometers north of Sydney, this year.

AC Energy is currently developing renewable energy projects with a combined capacity of 18 gigawatts across Asia Pacific. Apart from Australia and the Philippines, it also has clean energy projects in India and Vietnam.

The company is controlled by Ayala Corp., which traces its roots to 1834 when the Philippines was a colony of Spain. The country’s oldest conglomerate started as a distillery in Manila and then expanded into banking, hotels, real estate and telecommunications.

Jaime Zobel de Ayala, 88, was ranked the country’s eighth-richest person with a net worth of $2.55 billion when the list of the Philippines’ 50 Richest was published in August. The older Ayala retired in 2006, and his eldest son Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, who had been the CEO of Ayala Corp. since 1994, succeeded him as chairman.