Lopez-led EDC gets $315 M loan for wind project

MANILA, Philippines - Energy Development Corp. (EDC), the Lopez-led geothermal company, has signed a $315 million financing agreement with a group of foreign and local banks for the construction of the 150-megawatt Burgos Wind Project (BWP) in Ilocos Norte.

The facility, which consists of US dollar and Philippine peso tranches, would mature in 15 years, EDC said.

EDC aims to make the Burgos Wind Project the first wind project to avail of the Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) incentive scheme of the government.

At present, the Department of Energy has approved an allocation of 200 MW for wind projects on a first to commission, first served basis.

Eksport Kredit Fonden, Denmark’s export credit agency, agreed to provide guarantee on a part of the dollar loan component as EDC mandated several foreign banks as lead arrangers for the foreign tranche.

These are the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ), DZ Bank AG, ING Bank NV, Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) and Norddeutsche Landesbank Gironzentrale.

PNB Capital and Investment Corp. and SB Capital Investment Corp. arranged the local tranche of the loan, together with several other lenders such as BDO Unibank Inc., Land Bank of the Philippines, Philippine National Bank, and Security Bank Corp.

EDC president and chief operating officer Richard Tantoco said the fresh loan is a sign of confidence from funding institutions.

 “This fresh loan is a sign of confidence from funding institutions on EDC’s ability to execute a strategic business plan for our wind project amidst intense competition in the renewable energy industry.  With construction in full swing, we are confident that we will meet our target commissioning date and avail of the Feed-in-Tariff,” Tantoco said.

EDC said that once operational, the Burgos Wind Project would be the largest wind farm in the Philippines comprising a total of 50 large scale Vestas V90-3.0MW wind turbines and ancillary plant to be supplied and constructed by Vestas, the world’s leading wind turbine manufacturer.

The project also includes a 115-kilovolt-transmission line connecting the wind farm from the Burgos substation to the Laoag substation of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the country’s grid operator, as well as the expansion of the substations including the switchyard.

 “This project underlines EDC’s strategy to be the country’s leading diversified renewable power company. As we provide 370 GWh of electricity to power approximately 2 million households, we also will displace about 200,000 tons of carbon emissions annually,” Tantoco said.

The Burgos Wind Project occupies a 600-hectare site covering three barangays, namely, Saoit, Poblacion and Nagsurot, in Burgos, Ilocos Norte and is considered one of the biggest investments in the province.