Century Pacific Food Inc. said it is expanding the solar power usage of its General Santos City facility as it strengthens its commitment in using renewable energy.
The company is also commissioning a new biomass boiler in the facility.
General Santos is Century Pacific’s largest manufacturing hub for tuna and coconut projects.
“From a capacity of 5.2MW (megawatts), the operational solar capacity now stands at 8.6MW, representing a 65 percent increase, and is expected to be fully operational by March 2024,” the company said.
Century Pacific said its tuna and coconut facilities predominantly use clean energy sourced from a hydroelectric power plant through the grid.
The company commissioned its first solar PV plant in 2021 in a move to double down on its commitment to more sustainable manufacturing practices. Since then, the company has invested approximately P380 million on its solar power push, with the PV roof solar system generating more than 15 million kWh of energy.
As of end 2022, more than 60 percent of the hub’s power requirements were harnessed from clean energy sources, the company said.
“In addition to being an environmentally forward choice for Century Pacific, investing in solar unlocks value for the company and enhances our operational resilience,” said Ted Po, Century Pacific president.
The company, meanwhile, said the new boiler will utilize coconut shells as biomass fuel, converting by-products of its coconut production into energy and eliminating coal usage in the process.
“On a broader scale, the company anticipates a substantial 36 percent reduction in overall coal consumption across its factory,” it said.
“As demand for coconut products soar locally and abroad, our focus is on sustainable practices to mitigate our environmental impact. The expansion of our biomass boilers, utilizing coconut shells from our operations also serves as an eco-friendly substitute for coal, contributing to substantial reductions in carbon emissions,” said Noel Tempongko, Century Pacific vice president for coconut tolling.
Currently, Century Pacific’s operations yield coconut shells as by-products of its deshelling operations for coconut meat and various coconut derivatives such as desiccated coconut, cocomilk, oil and flour.
Century Pacific said it will be adding another mixed biomass boiler in the second quarter.
