Alternergy Holdings Corporation's Alabat Project Secured P5.3 Billion Financing from RCBC

Renewable power pioneer Alternergy Holdings Corporation (Alternergy) through its unit Alabat Wind Power Corporation (AWPC) has secured a P5.3 billion project finance facility 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.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), 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. Puyat Jacinto Santos Law acted as Lender’s Counsel and Tantoco Villanueva & De Guzman Law acted as Borrower’s Counsel.

“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.” Gerry P. Magbanua, President of Alternergy 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,” Maria Carmen Diaz, Alternergy Chief Financial Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer 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.

“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. 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 is awarded the wind turbine supply contract and the construction contract is 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.

Alternergy is a renewable power pioneer with a portfolio of project companies engaged in different RE projects, particularly wind, run-of-river hydro, solar farm and commercial rooftop, battery storage and offshore wind projects. With robust expansion plans in the next three years, Alternergy aims to develop up to 474MW of additional wind, solar, and run of river hydro projects.

Alternergy’s management team is comprised of a pioneering group of RE advocates led by former energy secretary Vince Pérez, Gerry Magbanua, Knud Hedeager, Eduardo Martinez Miranda, Michael Lichtenfeld, Atty. Ina Arriola, Annette Rafael and Carmen Diaz. Alternergy (ALTER) recently debuted at the Philippine Stock Exchange as the first initial public offering (IPO) in March 2023.