Alternergy secures P5.3 B financing from RCBC
Renewable power pioneer Alternergy Holdings Corporation’s subsidiary Alabat Wind Power Corporation (AWPC) has secured a P5.3-billion project finance facility from Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC).
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the firm said the fund will be used to partially fund the construction of its 64 MW Alabat Wind Power Project located in the municipalities of Alabat and Quezon in the province of Quezon.
AWPC is wholly-owned subsidiary of Alternergy Wind Holdings Corporation (AWHC), which is the wind sub-holding company wholly-owned by Alternergy.
Alternergy reported that the project financing was secured from Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) with RCBC Capital Corporation as the Mandated Lead Arranger for the transaction.
“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.
“RCBC’s continued support speaks of the growing partnership between Alternergy and RCBC. We are grateful to RCBC for the trust and confidence in Alternergy’s ability to undertake RE projects over the last decade,” Alternergy President Gerry P. Magbanua said.
He noted that the P5.3 billion loan is the largest financing facility extended by RCBC to the Alternergy Group to date since 2014.
RCBC has bankrolled Alternergy’s 12.5 MWp Kirahon Solar Power Project in Misamis Oriental, the first solar PPA approved by the ERC, and the Solar Pacific CitySun multi-site solar rooftop projects atop the building roofs of CityMalls, the first such multi-site solar rooftop financing in the country.
RCBC Trust Corporation, a subsidiary of RCBC, also supported Alternergy’s first solar photovoltaic and battery energy storage system project in the Republic of Palau as the Accounts Trustee.
“This project financing forms part of Alternergy’s capital raising activities under the Green Finance Framework which is also aligned with RCBC’s commitment to sustainable investments,” Alternergy Chief Financial Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer Maria Carmen Diaz said.
“Alternergy has so far closed P18.4 billion out of the P21 billion capital raising program,” she said, further noting that more financial closing are forthcoming soon as part of Alternergy’s accelerated roll-out of its project portfolio to 500MW by 2026," she said.
“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," Diaz added.
“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,” RCBC Executive Vice President and Corporate Banking Group Head, Elizabeth E. Coronel said.
Ground mobilization of the Alabat Wind Power Project is now ongoing following the groundbreaking in early May.
Global technology leader Envision Energy was awarded the wind turbine supply contract and the construction contract was awarded to China Energy Engineering Group Guangdong Electric Power Design Institute Co. Ltd (GEDI).
Danish technical consulting firm K2 Management is the project’s owner’s engineer that will support Alternergy to ensure successful and timely construction of the project.
As a successful winner of the Green Energy Auction 2 Program of the Department of Energy (DOE), the Alabat Wind Power Project will contribute new and additional generating capacity by end 2025 to help boost the country’s power supply availability.