UNIVERSAL Robina Corp. (URC) inked an agreement with power producers to supply renewable energy (RE) for at least 18 of its branded consumer foods group’s facilities located in Luzon, and two in Visayas.
In February, URC signed an agreement with several generation companies for power sourced from geothermal, solar and hydro energy.
The new RE capacity will provide electricity to the company’s factories based in Pasig, Laguna, Cavite, Pampanga, Antipolo, Bulacan, and facilities located in Cebu and Negros Occidental.
Currently, the company’s agro-industrial group (AIG) and sugar and renewables group (SURE) have been utilizing biogas to generate energy sourced from manure, agricultural and food waste, and other organic materials.
Over 600 megawatts (MW) of power are produced using biogas under AIG’s poultry farm in Naic, Cavite, and pig farm in San Miguel, Bulacan since 2015.
In support of the Philippines’ pledge to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the company aims to balance the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) it emits with the amount it removes.
“These efforts are part of URC’s overall push towards reaching its ‘net zero’ goal by 2050, by sourcing its energy needs from power producers that use renewable sources,” said URC President and Chief Executive Officer Irwin C. Lee.
He added that URC aims to power its plants with 100% renewable energy within the decade.
“We’re working with energy providers, and within our own facilities, to achieve this as soon as possible,” he said.
On a daily basis, AIG farms collect and store animal waste in covered anaerobic tanks where microbes feed on organic matter to produce biogas, while solids are exhumed and utilized as fertilizers.
Meanwhile, all SURE sugar mills are already powered by bagasse, a fibrous material leftover extracted from sugarcane, while biogas makes up 40% of its solid fuel needs for its La Carlota Distillery. — Ram Christian S. Agustin