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ACEN Corp. is exploring potential renewable energy partnerships with future locators at the planned Pax Silica artificial intelligence (AI) hub in New Clark City, as the Ayala-led company underscores the need for careful power planning to support the project’s massive electricity requirements without affecting supply for existing consumers.
ACEN President and Chief Executive Officer Eric Francia said the company has held initial discussions related to the development but expects more substantive engagements once individual locators move forward with their projects.
“We’ve had preliminary discussions before, but nothing too advanced,” Francia told reporters, adding that ACEN intends to work with various industry players as the development progresses.
Grid Capacity
Pax Silica, a US-led initiative planned on a 1,620-hectare site in New Clark City, Capas, Tarlac, is envisioned as an AI and semiconductor-focused industrial ecosystem that will host data centers and other high-tech facilities.
The project’s energy requirements are expected to be significant. While the Department of Information and Communications Technology estimates that data center infrastructure alone could support between 300 megawatts and 400 megawatts of computing capacity, the actual electricity demand will be substantially higher once cooling systems, power conversion losses and backup infrastructure are factored in.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has also said the development could require at least 3 gigawatts of electricity, prompting the agency to draft a circular that will outline how the complex will be powered.
Francia said ensuring sufficient transmission infrastructure will be critical, noting that the existing grid connection into the Clark area has limited capacity.
“We just have to make sure the grid connects to the AI data center hub because there is limited capacity going into Clark. That needs to be planned out well so that the locators there will be able to draw power from it,” he said.
“We need to be very careful because we don’t want that high load demand to cannibalize what would have gone to the general consumers. That’s where the policy should be defined,” Francia added.
Banking On Renewable Energy
ACEN is positioning its expanding renewable energy portfolio to help meet future demand from projects such as Pax Silica.
In neighboring Zambales, the company is developing nearly 1 gigawatt of solar generation capacity through the 585-megawatt SanMar Solar project in San Marcelino and the 363-megawatt Palauig Solar project.
About 450 megawatts of the combined capacity are already operational, while the remaining projects are under construction and scheduled for completion by 2027.
The company has also started building battery energy storage systems with a combined capacity of 1,660 megawatt-hours to complement its solar facilities and improve grid reliability.
Francia said connecting these renewable energy assets to the AI hub is technically possible, but transmission infrastructure must first be expanded. He added that the projects in Zambales are being developed primarily for connection to the national grid.
He also noted that constructing power plants within New Clark City may not be economically practical because of high land prices, making nearby provinces a more viable location for new generation facilities before connecting them to transmission lines serving the hub.
Policy Framework
The DOE has identified embedded generation, or building power plants within the development itself, as one possible approach to supplying the AI hub.
However, Francia said renewable energy deployment presents practical constraints. Wind resources in the area are limited, while utility-scale solar projects require large tracts of land. Developers are therefore exploring locations with lower land costs before connecting new facilities to the grid.
He said policymakers should ensure that rapid data center expansion is matched by the addition of new power generation capacity.
Francia cited practices in countries such as Australia and Singapore, where developers may be required to demonstrate that they are enabling the construction of new power plants before building large data centers.
“I don’t know if there is a policy that the government will adopt, because then the risk there is simply connecting to the grid without enabling new capacity could lead to shortages or price increases,” he said.
“It’s a very delicate balance. You want to enable that in the sector, but also want to ensure that energy security and affordability do not get compromised,” he added.
Source:
https://mb.com.ph/2026/07/31/ayalas-acen-open-to-help-powering-massive-new-clark-city-ai-hub
https://business.inquirer.net/603337/acen-open-to-energize-pax-silica