October 31, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Aboitiz Power Corp. is taking its first major step beyond the Philippines with the acquisition of a 25-percent stake in a coal-fired facility in Vietnam owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. for $220 million.
AboitizPower intends to invest in Van Phong Power Co. Ltd. (VPCL), which owns an operating 1,320-megawatt coal-fired power plant in the province of Khánh Hòa in Vietnam.
VPCL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo, one of the leading diversified conglomerates in Japan.
Started commercial operations in January 2024, the Van Phong plant has an existing 25-year power purchase agreement with state-owned energy utility Vietnam Electricity.
According to AboitizPower, the Van Phong 1 plant is projected to deliver about 8.5 billion kilowatt-hours to Vietnam’s national grid annually. This represents about four percent of the country’s annual gross power generation.
“This investment is in parallel with our renewable investment program and is aligned with our aspiration to ensure a balanced long-term energy transition, contributing to reliable and affordable energy systems,” the company said.
The completion of the transaction is contingent upon customary closing conditions, including obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals.
Analysts and market watchers told The STAR that the planned investment of AboitizPower in Vietnam could serve as a launchpad for its regional expansion, particularly as its portfolio in the Philippines faces limits under the existing coal ban.
“AboitizPower has made commitments to reduce its reliance on coal, and they really have no choice in the matter, as the DOE (Department of Energy) has already banned the development of new coal power plants,” AP Securities Inc. research head Alfred Benjamin Garcia said.
“I guess the regulations are less strict in Vietnam, and AP sees this as a strategic opportunity to generate cheap power and expand regionally at the same time,” Garcia added.
Coal plants are regarded as a reliable source of baseload power due to their capacity to operate continuously and provide an uninterrupted supply of electricity.
The government, however, imposed a coal moratorium policy in 2020 to reduce the country’s reliance on coal as part of its energy transition strategy.
Economist Bienvenido Oplas Jr. said operating a coal plant in Vietnam is a strategic move for AboitizPower, given the country’s rising demand for electricity.
“Among the top 50 largest economies in the world, Vietnam is the fastest growing now, about eight percent this year, and aspiring for 10 percent growth yearly until 2030, so power demand there will remain very strong,” Oplas said.
China Bank Capital Corp. managing director Juan Paolo Colet, meanwhile, said this latest venture could be the start of “AboitizPower’s next chapter as a multinational energy business.”
“They first tried to enter Vietnam in 2019 with the acquisition of a wind energy project, but that was aborted in 2020 due to the pandemic. So hopefully, this new deal will be completed,” Colet said.
AboitizPower, the energy arm of the Aboitiz Group, emerged as the Philippines’ largest power generation company in terms of capacity as of July, according to the Energy Regulatory Commission.
