APECO talks to firms for data centers in Aurora, signs MOU for 1-GW RE investment

The Aurora Pacific Ecozone and Freeport Authority (APECO) revealed that it is currently in discussions with two undisclosed manufacturing companies regarding potential hyperscale data centers to be built in Aurora province, which would require hundreds of megawatts of electricity.

During the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Wednesday with Huge Energy and Dong-A Global Company, APECO announced that foreign partners and prospective investors had expressed their intention to work with the agency in developing a large-scale renewable energy project inside the Casiguran-based ecozone in Aurora.

“One renewable energy company generating one gigawatt of clean energy can supply the power requirement of a data center that APECO is currently taking to,” APECO President Gil Taway IV said in his keynote speech at the MOU signing at Novotel Hotel in Quezon City.

Taway noted that one of the undisclosed manufacturing companies would require around 300 megawatts of power capacity if its data centers were to be located within the Aurora ecozone.

He said APECO had held discussions with two to three manufacturing companies that are considering investing in data centers in Aurora.

“Meron na kaming kausap [na mga companies], hindi muna namin [sasabihin],” the APECO chief executive officer told reporters in a media interview.

(We already have companies we are talking to, but we will not disclose them yet.)

Huge Energy Company Limited Chairman Lai Hongze and Dong-A Global Company Limited CEO Ik Soo Kwon also signed the MOU with APECO for a one-gigawatt renewable energy project.

Phases for the renewable energy project

Around P8.2 billion, equivalent to $138 million, will be allocated for the first 100 megawatts of solar power generation under the first phase of the renewable energy project investment by Huge Energy, according to APECO.

The first phase of the project will establish an initial 100-megawatt solar photovoltaic energy generation facility, supported by a battery energy storage system (BESS) equivalent to approximately 40 to 60 percent of the facility’s initial capacity.

“Together with the construction and development is a 100-megawatt substation,” APECO Business Development and Marketing Manager Gene Angelo Ferrer said.

“The first phase is important; it begins to establish a dedicated renewable energy platform within APECO,” he added.

Meanwhile, the second phase envisions an additional 350 megawatts of capacity, supported by a battery energy storage system (BESS) and an upgraded substation, while the final, or third, phase will add another 550 megawatts of electric capacity.

“These three phases represent a potential 1,000-megawatt energy foundation or 1 gigawatt-powered investment,” Ferrer pointed out.

On the other hand, APECO President Taway said the first phase of the renewable energy investment project can be finished in 10 to 15 months, according to the Korean Huge Energy Company.

“We hope to finish all the phases in the next three to four years, but of course, we need to enter into a lease agreement,” Taway said.

“They will go through the process [and] hopefully, we can start the construction in six months after going through the process, like government permitting,” he added.

Taway, however, stressed that the completion of the energy project depends on the entry of the industry and manufacturing companies of the data center, which will scale up depending on the entry of other industries that require huge amounts of power.

“With sufficient power, APECO can attract more industries. It can support digital infrastructure and data centers, manufacturing activities, strengthening our logistics and infrastructure ambitions and enabling value-adding activities on agriculture and fisheries,” the CEO said, stressing that projects in the ecozone attract more employment opportunities and economic participation for Aurora residents.

Water desalination eyed for data center

APECO President Taway revealed that the APECO team had discussed putting up a desalination facility in the ecozone because potential data centers and electric vehicle manufacturing facilities require significant amounts of water for their operations.

Taway said the desalination plant would be part of the ecosystem for the proposed data center, noting that Aurora is an “ideal” location for data centers because of its abundant water sources, including groundwater and seawater.

“We would not use fresh water or groundwater here. All of it is seawater through distillation and desalination,” he clarified.

The CEO added that the data center will start construction once APECO gains solid commitments from the energy, manufacturing and desalination companies involved.

APECO Marketing Manager Ferrer revealed that the undisclosed company told APECO on Tuesday that it would take 16 to 24 months to construct the data center, from the infrastructure to the desalination plant.

The construction of the renewable energy project, however, is expected to start in 2027, according to APECO.

APECO to engage Indigenous Peoples

APECO said it will engage with Indigenous Peoples and various communities in the municipality of Casiguran in Aurora for the renewable energy project inside the Casiguran-based ecozone.

“While we are in the development stage [of the renewable energy project], we will engage our community and IPs and of course, with LGUs,” Taway told the DAILY TRIBUNE in an interview.

“In fact, we have been engaging with them, even before this [energy project], but now, it is more concrete [and] we have been telling this to the communities and IPs for a long time about these kinds of projects, even critical mineral processing,” the APECO president added.

He stressed that it is important for APECO to include the communities and Indigenous Peoples in Casiguran, noting that the ecozone and freeport authority aims to serve the people by providing more job opportunities.

APECO will start its reengagement with the Casiguran communities and IPs in October this year, noting that the ecozone authority has good relationships with locals and the local government.

“We have particular programs that we need to present well [for us] to convince and encourage them to join us with so-called industrialization,” Taway said.

Compliance with DENR

Taway said APECO needed to comply with the requirements of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for any projects to be developed within the ecozone.

“All compliance requirements cannot be short-cut. So, we have to follow, comply, and adhere to the rules, regulations and laws pertaining to our environment,” he said.

The APECO president, however, noted that industrialization involves some environmental impacts, saying other industrialized jurisdictions have also experienced similar effects on the environment.

“But, we [APECO] are here and the DENR to mitigate, lessen and reduce the environmental effects [of projects to be constructed in the ecozone],” Taway said.