BDO helps fund $130-M power project

BDO helps fund $130-M power project

 

Published on Sunday, 30 June 2013 18:47 

Written by Paul Anthony A. Isla

Business Mirror

ALTERNERGY Wind One Corp. said on Friday that BDO Capital & Investment Corp. (BDO Capital) led a syndicate of banks extending $130 million for the 67.5-megawatt (MW) wind-farm power project in Pililla, Rizal province.

Alternergy, which focuses on tapping renewable energy, is the joint venture between Alternergy Viento Partners Corp., founded by former Energy Secretary Vincent Perez, and Korea East West Power, a subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Co. (Kepco).

The company said the $130-million financing is the first all—Filipino commercial bank syndicated term-loan facility for a wind-power project in the country.

It said the 67.5-MW Pililla wind-farm project is the first renewable-power project that has received full project finance based on the feed-in-tariff (FIT) regime under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.

An FIT is a cost-based compensation mechanism assuring certainty of price and designed to encourage renewable-energy producers to invest for the long haul.

Eduardo V. Francisco, BDO Capital president, said the fund extended to the project is a testament to the domestic banking industry’s growing awareness and confidence in helping the private sector develop power-generation projects that harness renewable energy.

He said the syndication of four all-Filipino commercial banks demonstrates the technical and commercial viability of renewable-power projects in the country, specifically for large-scale wind projects.

BDO Unibank Inc. leads the project lenders for the Pililla wind- farm project, together with the Philippine National Bank, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. and China Banking Corp. BDO Capital is the lead arranger and sole book runner.

The syndicated loan facility has a term of 12.5 years and is available in both Philippine pesos and US dollars.

The Pililla wind-farm project will involve the construction and installation of 27 wind turbines along the ridge of the mountainous Rizal province. Based on the Wind Atlas of the Philippines produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the United States, the Pililla wind site has a promising wind-resource potential.

Alternergy verified and confirmed the potential after more than three years of wind-resource assessment by GL Garrad Hassan, the world’s leading wind-consultancy firm. The Asian Development Bank partly financed the feasibility study under a technical-assistance facility.

The Pililla wind-farm project received the Confirmation of Commerciality from the Department of Energy (DOE) on May 17. Under the renewable-energy law, the first batch of wind-power projects will receive an P8.53 per kilowatt-hour FIT rate for the next 20 years.

The Pililla wind-farm project is expected to be ready for commissioning by late 2014.

The groundbreaking ceremony of the Pililla wind-farm project was held on June 18, led by Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla.