ALTERNERGY Holdings Corp., through its unit Alabat Wind Power Corp. (AWPC), has secured P5.3 billion in financing from Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) to partially fund the construction of its 64-megawatt (MW) wind project in Quezon province.
“We are very pleased to finally sign the loan agreement for the project finance facility for our Alabat Wind Power Project after a very thorough due diligence period against a very tight timeline,” Alternergy President Gerry P. Magbanua said in a statement on Thursday.
He also said that the P5.3-billion loan is the largest financing facility extended by RCBC to Alternergy Group to date, since 2014.
Maria Carmen G. Diaz, Alternergy’s chief financial officer and chief sustainability officer, said that the company has so far closed P18.4 billion out of the P21-billion capital raising program.
She said that more financial closings are coming soon as part of Alternergy’s accelerated rollout of its project portfolio to 500 MW by 2026.
“This is yet another testament of the long-term partnership between Alternergy and RCBC which started a decade ago. RCBC has supported renewable energy projects, creating innovative financing solutions even back then,” RCBC Executive Vice-President and Corporate Banking Group Head Elizabeth E. Coronel said.
“We are proud to have supported Alternergy over the years and look forward to a continuing journey with them in line with our commitment to a sustainable future,” she added.
Ground mobilization of the Alabat Wind Power Project is now ongoing following the groundbreaking in early May, the company said.
Alternergy awarded the wind turbine supply contract to Envision Energy while the construction contract was awarded to China Energy Engineering Group Guangdong Electric Power Design Institute Co. Ltd.
Danish technical consulting firm K2 Management is the project’s owner’s engineer that will support the company to ensure successful and timely construction of the wind project.
In a disclosure, Alternergy said its board previously approved the subscription to nearly 74.99% of the capital stock of Olympia Solar Power Corp. (OSPC) worth P74,999.
The board also gave its approval for Alternergy to act as project sponsor of OSPC in connection with the solar energy operating contract that the latter will apply for with the Department of Energy for a potential project site in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat.
“As project sponsor, [Alternergy] shall guarantee the fulfillment of the obligations of OSPC under the [solar energy operating contract],” the company said.
Alternergy aims to develop up to 474 MW of additional wind, solar, and run-of-river hydropower projects in the next three years.
At the local bourse on Thursday, shares in the company went up by one centavo or 1.33% to close at P0.76 each. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
