First Gen renews power contract with Silliman University

FIRST GEN Corp. has renewed its retail electricity contract with Silliman University (SU), agreeing to supply up to 2.5 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy, the company announced on Wednesday.

In an e-mailed statement, First Gen said that its renewable energy arm Energy Development Corp. will supply the university’s power needs, providing 2.1 megawatts (MW) in the first year, 2.3 MW in the second year, and 2.5 MW in the final year.”

First Gen and SU had their first contract covering the periods 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.

“More than the savings generated by our switch to renewable energy, what is more compelling is our contribution to a ‘decarbonized and regenerative future,’” said Jane Annette L. Belarmino, SU’s vice-president for development, enterprise, and external affairs.

“To concretize this, with just a year’s use of renewable energy from 2020-2021, we were able to prevent an equivalent of 974.5 tons of carbon dioxide from going into the atmosphere,” she added.

First Gen is targeting to grow its renewable energy portfolio to up to 13 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 from the current capacity of more than 3.4 GW.

“We hope that besides supplying you with renewable energy, we can explore projects with your students that we can partner with, as well as provide energy solutions that can help with SU’s energy efficiency,” said Arlene Soriano, First Gen’s power marketing and sales head. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera