AC Energy leads the charge towards a sustainable future with SAP

The call for concerted efforts to ensure a sustainable future continues to generate significant strides as people and organizations become more aware of its importance. Nowadays, for instance, more and more companies are joining the sustainability movement, heeding the call to embrace net zero.

According to the United Nations (UN), net-zero means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible by transforming how companies produce, consume and do business. On its website, UN also noted that over 1,200 companies had put science-based targets in line with this movement, plus other nations, cities, institutions, and organizations, pledging to take rigorous, immediate action to halve global emissions by 2030.

ACEN is among the companies that commit to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, pushing toward a sustainable future. ACEN is the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group, with ~4,000 MW of attributable capacity in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Australia. The company’s renewable capacity share is at 87 percent, which is among the highest in the region. Most recently, ACEN announced its new corporate vision and strategy, targeting 20 GW of attributable renewables capacity by 2030. 

ACEN’s environmental role is built on three foundations–climate change, biodiversity, and resource efficiency. But the company knew that its green journey should start from within the enterprise and by ensuring that necessary technology and tools are available to improve their processes. That is why ACEN aims to lead the charge in the renewables revolution and towards adopting technology.

“Without a digital business platform, running a day-to-day business can be challenging. Entities were set up differently, so teams needed more effort to collaborate. When people and processes are misaligned, work often must be redone, leading to wasted time, effort, energy, and materials,” said ACEN Executive Director and Head of Commercial Operations & Information Technology, Miguel de Jesus.

With the goal of addressing this concern, ACEN implemented SAP S/4HANA on Azure with the aim to creating a unified digital business platform covering finance, procurement, inventory, and asset maintenance across multiple entities.

SAP S/4HANA helped enable the company to have visibility across its entities. This is crucial since ACEN teams must collaborate to formulate and execute strategic ways to increase solar and wind plant capacities while reducing inefficiencies and waste.

In addition, from the usual 12 days of standard financial statements completion, ACEN was able to finish it in a week. There was a notable decrease in the error rate for audit adjustments from eight percent to less than five percent. And within one year, ACEN successfully utilized SAP S/4 HANA in 15 entities.

“Having SAP helps us to focus on our long-term goal: Net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. As we commit to net zero, we are confident that the way we run our business will also have sustainability at its core: efficient internal processes, alignment towards business objectives, scalability, and expansion. Moreover, through automation and digitalization, we incorporate sustainability practices, including reducing waste of time, effort, and materials,” said Hannie Tucay, ACEN Vice President for Finance.

According to Delaware Managed Services and IT Consulting Inc., implementation partner ACEN established an impactful work for its shareholders, employees, and society. The company embarked on a greenfield implementation of S/4HANA for the Financials, Materials Management, and Plant Maintenance modules. Phase 1 was focused on establishing a golden template. Phase 2 was a template rollout to 11 entities, focusing on renewable solar and wind plants. From 2022 onwards, 25 more companies will follow suit.

ACEN has been able to embark on its mission to achieve efficiency in day-to-day operations with streamlined processes on a digital platform. This mission includes improving corporate governance, reducing cybersecurity risks, and minimizing paper wastage. In addition to this, learning a new skill, such as SAP S/4HANA, helped contribute to human empowerment in the workplace.

Acknowledging its efforts, ACEN was one of the finalists in SAP’s Best Run Awards 2021 for SEA: Making the World Run Better. Marking its 50th year anniversary, SAP continues to celebrate businesses and individuals that lead the way—those who have adapted to the rapidly evolving business landscape and delivered success amidst today’s disruptive economy, through these Awards.

“At SAP, we are both an enabler and an exemplar of our sustainability practices with a clear ‘Chasing Zero’ vision. We hope to continue working collectively with organizations like ACEN that prioritize Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) activities that help create a more sustainable future. Indeed, it is time for us to consider technology as a tool for capturing, managing, analyzing, and using sustainability data more efficiently so we can ensure a future that is greener, cleaner, and more equal than the world we live in today,” said Rudy Abrahams, Managing Director SAP Philippines.

ACEN is among the finalists for the Sustainability Award – The Future Maker, a new category in the SAP Best Run Awards. It aims to recognize the enterprises in SEA that are driving their organizations purposefully towards sustainability, doing their part to preserve the environment for the future.