PH Renewables secures bank loan for solar project

BY LENIE LECTURA – SEPTEMBER 1, 2022
from Business Mirror

PH Renewables Inc. (PHRI), a joint venture between MGen Renewable Energy Inc. (MGreen) and Mitsui & Co. subsidiary Mit-Renewables Philippine Corp. (Mit-Renewables), secured a P2.65-billion bank loan to fund the ongoing construction of its 75 megawatt (MW) solar project in Baras, Rizal.

The 15-year term project financing facility was obtained from Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), with RCBC Capital Corp. (RCBC Capital) as arranger.

“We welcome having like-minded partners like Mitsui and RCBC in advancing the expansion of renewable energy [RE] projects in the country. We look forward to taking part in this evolving energy landscape as we move towards our target of building 1,500MW of renewable energy over the next seven years,” said Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) President Jaime T. Azurin.

MGreen is MGen’s wholly-owned RE unit.  It owns a 51-percent equity stake in PowerSource First Bulacan Solar Inc. (Bulacansol) which commenced operations of its 55 MW solar plant in San Miguel, Bulacan in May 2021.

PHRI’s solar plant is scheduled to commence commercial operations within the first quarter of 2023 to supply RE to MPower, the local retail electricity supply arm of Meralco.

“We would like to congratulate MGreen and Mitsui for undertaking this remarkable step towards sustainability, a cause which is very close to our hearts. We are fully committed to building a greener future by actively funding renewable energy projects, consistent with our sustainability initiatives,” said RCBC President and CEO Eugene S. Acevedo.

MGreen and Mit-Renewables are also jointly developing a 45MW solar project in Cordon, Isabela.

The enlarged MGen and Global Business Power Corp.’s power generation portfolio has a total gross capacity of 2,446 MW that utilize coal, liquified natural gas, diesel, solar technologies.