EDC raises P10b from ASEAN green bond offering
By Jenniffer B. Austria – May 28, 2024, 9:15 pm
from manilastandard.net
The Energy Development Corp. (EDC), a unit of First Gen Corp., raised P10 billion from the issuance of fixed-rate ASEAN Green Bonds.
EDC said in a statement Tuesday the bonds were seven times oversubscribed over its base offer of P6 billion, which allowed it to exercise the oversubscription option and raise an additional P4 billion.
The bonds were priced at the lowest end of the credit spread range, fetching rates of 6.7478 percent, 6.8873 percent and 7.0626 percent for the three-year, five-year and seven-year series, respectively.
The bonds, issued as second tranche of its P15-billion ASEAN Green Bonds shelf registration, were listed on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx) Monday.
“As we are all feeling the past few weeks, the Philippines is experiencing dangerously high heat indices. This has led to a surge in electricity demand, particularly for cooling, which has significantly reduced our reserve levels and has put upward pressure on electricity prices,” said EDC president and chief operating officer Jerome Cainglet.
“We look forward to adding renewable energy capacity to address these and, through the green bonds, present the public with the opportunity to participate in financing clean and renewable energy projects in line with our company’s mission of forging collaborative pathways for a decarbonized and regenerative future,” said Cainglet.
BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and BPI Capital Corp. acted as joint issue managers and BDO Capital, BPI Capital, China Bank Capital Corp. and SB Capital Investment Corp. were hired as joint lead underwriters and joint book runners for the fund-raising activity.
ASEAN Green Bonds refer to bonds and sukuk which comply with the ASEAN Green Bonds standards, where the proceeds will be exclusively applied to finance or refinance, in part or in full, new and/or existing eligible green projects.
Eligible green projects include those for renewable energy, energy efficiency, pollution prevention and control, environmentally-sustainable management of living natural resources and land use, clean transportation, climate change adaptation and green buildings.
EDC is the largest pure renewable energy company in the Philippines, operating 1,170 megawatts (MW) of geothermal, 150 MW of wind, 132 MW of hydroelectric power, and 12 MW of solar power plants— for a total of 1,464 MW of clean and renewable energy.
It operates in various locations in the Philippines, including in Bicol, Leyte, Negros Island and Mindanao. EDC, through its subsidiaries, also operates a combined wind and solar farm located in Burgos, Ilocos Norte, and has substantial hydropower assets located in Nueva Ecija.
EDC accounts for 18 percent of the country’s total installed renewable energy capacity and comprises 60 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity, based on the Philippines’ 2022 total installed capacity figures as published in the DOE 2003-2022 Power Statistics report.
