Cebuano firm taps Aboitiz solar to save costs

Aboitiz Power Corp.’s joint venture, Advent Upgrade Solar Inc. (AUSI), is helping industrial food manufacturer Marcel FoodSciences Inc. reduce costs and improve sustainability by installing a 793.6 kilowatt-peak rooftop solar system at its Sibonga, Cebu facility.

Equipped with over 1,000 solar panels, the project is expected to generate nearly 1,401,450 kWh of renewable energy in its first year, enabling Marcel FoodSciences to operate more efficiently while lowering its carbon footprint.

“This partnership with AUSI enables us to operate more efficiently while upholding our core values of honesty, integrity, fairness, respect, and compliance,” Marcel FoodSciences vice president for Operations Melvin Tan said on Tuesday.

Putting customer satisfaction first

Marcel FoodSciences, a family-owned Philippine firm with more than 50 years of experience producing and exporting seaweed and carrageenan, “puts customer satisfaction first, providing high-quality, specification-tailored carrageenan in pure or custom blends for food, petfood, and industrial applications,” Tan added.

Catherine Del-Villar Pasilaban, AdventEnergy vice president for Retail Sales and Services, noted that their six-year retail electricity supply partnership had built trust.

“Deepening this relationship to include rooftop solar reflects our shared belief that local resources — from seaweed harvested in Philippine waters to the solar energy overhead — hold the power to drive real economic growth, create lasting livelihoods, and move our industries toward a cleaner, more self-sufficient future,” she said.

APx, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AboitizPower through Aboitiz Renewables Inc., owns 50 percent of AUSI.