SJGEC secures ₱498-million RCBC loan for Nueva Ecija solar project
The San Jose Green Energy Corp. (SJGEC) announced it has secured a half-billion-peso loan with Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) following the final stages of approval for its new solar power project in Nueva Ecija.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, June 16, SJGEC, a unit of Rizal Green Energy Corp. (RGEC), stated it acquired a ₱498 million term loan facility with RCBC as the lender, RCBC Capital Corp. as the lead arranger, and RCBC Trust Corp. as the facility agent and security trustee.
RGEC is a joint venture between PetroGreen Energy Corp. (PGEC) and Japan-based TAISEI Corp.
This financing will be partially utilized for the 19.6-megawatt direct current (MWdc) San Jose Solar Power Project (SJSPP).
SJSPP is expected to generate an average of 27 GWh of electricity annually and displace at least 18,900 tons of CO2 emissions each year, SJGEC added.
According to SJGEC, the solar power project is completing its regulatory approvals before beginning commercial operations. These include the Final Certificate of Approval to Connect (FCATC) from the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP). They recently applied for a Certificate of Compliance (COC) with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
Technical inspections were conducted within the facilities last June as part of the COC requirement.
Once granted, the COC will make SJSPP PGEC's eighth utility-scale renewable energy (RE) project and the third to be financed by RCBC. The bank previously financed the 32-MW Maibarara geothermal plant and the 27-MWdc Dagohoy solar plant.