Semirara unit gets P14-B loan for Calaca plant expansion

MANILA, Philippines - Semirara Mining Corp. said its wholly-owned unit Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. (SLPGC) will secure a syndicated term loan of up to P14 billion to fund the expansion of its power plant project in Calaca, Batangas.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange yesterday, Semirara said the loan would be used by SLPGC to partly finance the design, engineering, construction and operation of the two additional 150-megawatt (MW) coal-fired thermal power plants.

BDO Capital & Investment is the lead arranger for the loan facility.

In view of this, Semirara has pledged 67 percent of its voting shares in SLPGC. It has also approved to execute an interim corporate suretyship that will guarantee the repayment of all obligations under the SPLGC’s project debt facility agreement and shareholders support to fund the construction cost overruns via equity or subordinated loans.

The new coal units will be located adjacent to the existing 600-MW Batangas coal-fired thermal power plant, which is owned and operated by SEM Calaca Power Corp., also a wholly owned subsidiary of Semirara Mining.

The proposed 300-MW coal facility (Phase 1) is part of a bigger project that targets to have a completely new 1,200-MW coal-fired power generation complex in Batangas.