Insider Spotlight
Fifteen years after its founding in 2011, ACEN Corp. has grown into a 7,500-megawatt (MW) renewable energy business spanning the Philippines and overseas markets such as India, Australia, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia and the United States.
As earlier reported by InsiderPH, Roman Miguel de Jesus will take charge of ACEN's Philippine business starting January 1, 2027, while Francia remains president and CEO of the listed company.
“Our next phase is about translating the scale we have built into stronger operating performance and long-term value,” Francia said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We are prioritizing the successful delivery of projects, improving the efficiency of our capital and operations, and pursuing growth selectively. These leadership appointments and our organizational realignment support that direction,” he added.
From the ground up
ACEN is one of Ayala's biggest ventures established during the leadership of brothers Jaime Augusto and Fernando Zobel de Ayala, who maintain key roles in the conglomerate as the eighth generation of family leaders takes on more prominent responsibilities.
It also stands out as a major business still led by its founding CEO, Francia, an early pioneer in renewable energy who helped lead efforts to retire coal plants amid a global shift toward cleaner power.
Even with Ayala's considerable resources, the group was entering an unfamiliar industry, with Francia and his small team starting from scratch and learning the business along the way.
“We set out what was then a bold vision of establishing an energy platform with 1000MW of capacity in five years, from a standing start with zero MW. We assembled a core group of five people from the Ayala group, none of whom had energy experience,” Francia recalled in a message to investors marking the business's 10th anniversary.
ACEN was then targeting 5,000 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2025—a goal it has since surpassed with a portfolio of nearly 7,500 MW.
This includes about 3,100 MW in the Philippines and 4,400 MW overseas.
A new generation takes charge
With ACEN's renewable energy business now spanning several countries, the company is giving a new generation of executives greater responsibility for running its expanding operations.
De Jesus, currently chief operating officer of ACEN's Philippine business, helped establish its retail electricity operations in 2016 and will now oversee local power projects, operations and commercial activities.
ACEN also named Ma. Cecilia Cruzabra group chief financial officer and Theodore Ivan Paris group treasurer, effective January 1, 2027, strengthening the team responsible for managing its finances and investments.
The company has organized its operations around three business units, with de Jesus heading the Philippines, Patrice Clausse overseeing international investments and India, and Jose Maria Zabaleta leading Australia.
The financial demands of expansion
ACEN's rapid expansion has also brought financial pressures, with nine-month profit rising 84 percent to P3.3 billion in 2026.
But the company is also carefully managing doubt P180 billion in net debt as of September, making it more important to focus on completing projects and expanding more selectively.
ACEN also voluntarily surrendered 13 wind and solar energy contracts covering projects still in the early planning stages, before any final investment decisions had been made.
A more disciplined growth strategy
The shift mirrors a broader push across the Ayala Group to prioritize financial resilience over aggressive expansion, with greater emphasis on cash flow and getting more value from existing investments.
For ACEN, this has meant scaling back its 2030 renewable energy capacity target to 15,000 MW from 20,000 MW to reduce borrowing and improve financial performance.
ACEN is also reorganizing its operations after years of rapid growth, with around 80 employees affected as the company prepares to focus more on completing existing projects, InsiderPH previously reported.
The changes come as renewable energy developers face a tougher market, including tighter financing conditions and concerns about a potential oversupply of electricity.
Building for the long term
After 15 years of expansion, ACEN has established a major renewable energy presence across the Philippines and several overseas markets, giving its new leadership team a substantial business to build upon.
The next phase will be measured less by how many power plants ACEN adds and more by how successfully it turns its growing portfolio into reliable earnings, stronger cash flows and lasting value for shareholders.
—Edited by Miguel R. Camus
