SPNEC to hasten solar projects

BY VG CABUAG – MARCH 17, 2022
from Business Mirror

Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp. (SPNEC) said on Thursday it is accelerating its timetable for the implementation of 4 gigawatts (GW) of developments from its parent, Solar Philippines Inc. (Solar PHL).

Solar PHL has spent years developing over 10GW of projects, some of which will be part of its share-swap deal with SPNEC and are reserved for joint ventures with various companies. This includes over 4 GW of developments for its joint venture with Enrique Razon Jr.’s Prime Metroline Infrastructure Holdings Corp. (Prime Infra) and Terra Solar Philippines, Inc. (Terra Solar). Solar Philippines is preparing land and permits that would form part of its investment in these projects.

Terra Solar is the original proponent for an unsolicited proposal to the Manila Electric Co. for the supply of 850 megawatts mid-merit for up to 13 hours a day from at least 2.5GW of solar and 4GW-hour of battery storage. This may be over two times the total installed capacity of solar in the Philippines, according to the DOE list of awarded solar projects as of end 2021.

The company also said Solar PHL has allowed them the option to accelerate the development of the project site using the proceeds of the stock rights offering (SRO) rather than wait for the effectivity of the increase in authorized capital stock and its share swap deal.

“This would support SPNEC in making the first of these projects construction-ready by the end of 2023, so that SPNEC may benefit from these sooner and significantly increase its capacity,” the company said.

“We note the feedback of our public shareholders who want us to accelerate our business plan, ahead of the consummation of the increase in ACS and share swap. As such, we are preparing SPNEC to accelerate the development of our largest projects, from the proceeds of an earlier filed SRO, given the importance of speed in developing projects to meet the growing demand for solar in the Philippines,” Solar Philippines President and CEO Leandro Antonio L. Leviste said.

Currently, SPNEC has an authorized capital stock of 10 billion shares, of which 8.124 billion shares are outstanding and 1.876 billion are unissued. It is in the process of increasing its capital stock to 50 billion shares, which would be for further share issuances such as private placements and share swap.

The company is also finalizing the terms of its SRO, which it now plans to file based on its current unissued shares. It targets to conduct the SRO in June , subject to the Philippine Stock Exchange rule that a company can only conduct a new offering after 180 days from its initial public offering.