Century Pacific Food, Inc. (CNPF), one of the Philippines’ leading branded food companies, has completed the commissioning of its 5.2-MW Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Plant in General Santos City in June 2021.
General Santos City, located in South Central Mindanao, houses CNPF’s tuna and coconut manufacturing operations, including the production of its flagship brand Century Tuna and its fast-growing coconut brand Coco Mama.
The Solar PV Plant augments the Company’s usage of clean energy and now supplies up to 15% of its energy requirements. Previously, the Company’s tuna and coconut facilities predominantly utilized clean energy sourced from a hydroelectric power plant through the grid. With the commissioning of the solar plant, more than 60% of its electricity now comes from clean energy sources.
Teddy Kho, Vice President and General Manager for Century Pacific’s tuna OEM business said, “Reducing our environmental footprint is a key thrust in our sustainability program at CNPF. As our business continues to grow, it is imperative that we invest in initiatives that will protect our planet. This is our contribution to sustainable development and is, ultimately, the only way we can ensure the longevity of our business. We are in it for the long haul.”
CNPF invested P200M to build its new solar PV system, which can generate an annual potential energy of 7.4 million kWh, enough to power a thousand households annually. The solar PV plant effectively offsets 6,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide every year or about 23 million kilometers worth of emissions for an average passenger car.
With the rapidly growing potential of clean and renewable energy in the Philippines, CNPF continues to uphold its commitment to investing in its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices and continues to value long-term sustainability development.
The integration of the solar PV system project is part of the bigger sustainability plan of CNPF to contribute to the overall carbon footprint reduction and energy efficiency initiatives of the country. Last September 2020, the Company’s coconut subsidiary signed a partnership with Friends of Hope to donate 100,000 quality seedlings a year for the next five years to smallholder coconut farmers. In addition to expanding long-term coconut supply in the region, planting the coconut trees will sequester about 416,680 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the next eight years. As a result, CNPF’s coconut subsidiary aims to be “carbon-neutral” by 2028.
Kho added, “Our initiative to partly power our facilities by the sun equates to our products being produced via clean energy sources. This gives our consumers an opportunity to contribute to a sustainable way of life.”
