ACEN, Rockefeller Foundation back early coal retirement using carbon credits

ACEN Corp., the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group, has teamed up with the Rockefeller Foundation and the Monetary Authority of Singapore to pilot the use of transition credits for the early retirement of coal plants in the Philippines.

- RICHMOND MERCURIO

The pioneering initiative announced during COP28 climate talks in Dubai yesterday seeks to develop the world’s first transition credit (coal-to-clean pilot project) that would leverage carbon finance to phase out a coal-fired power plant in the Philippines and replace it with renewable energy.

It is a first-of-its-kind project that will mark a major step toward phasing out coal, in line with the Paris Agreement.

Transition credits, according to ACEN, are high-integrity carbon credits generated from lower emissions by retiring a coal-fired power plant before the end of its natural life and replacing it with clean energy sources.

ACEN said transition credits would enable the company to increase its ambition of further accelerating the transition of the South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. (SLTEC) coal plant to clean technology as early as 2030.