AC Energy, partners bag Chevron assets

MANILA, Philippines - AC Energy Holdings Inc. of the Ayala Group and its partners have bagged the Indonesian and Philippine geothermal assets of American energy giant Chevron Corp.

The consortium, which AC Energy is part of, has signed share sale and purchase agreements with Chevron Global Energy Inc., Union Oil Company of California and their relevant affiliates for the purchase of Chevron’s geothermal operations in Indonesia and the Philippines.

The Indonesian consortium—composed of AC Energy with 19.8 percent, Star Energy Group Holdings Pte. Ltd., Star Energy Geothermal Pte. Ltd. and Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd.— will form joint venture company Star Energy Geothermal (Salak-Darajat) B.V. for the Indonesian assets.

On the other hand, the Philippine consortium consists of AC Energy and Star Energy Group Holdings Pte. Ltd., which will put up Acehi-Star Holdings Inc. for the Philippine acquisition.

The closing of the transaction is made subject to the satisfaction of certain agreed conditions. In particular, for the acquisition of the Philippine asset, the closing is subject to obtaining certain consents and approvals, including the approval of the Philippine Competition Commission.

“This acquisition is a major milestone for AC Energy as this scales up our renewable energy platform and establishes our presence in Indonesia. This is a significant step towards attaining our goal of reaching 2,000 MW by 2020,” AC Energy president and CEO John Eric Francia said.

In Indonesia, Chevron subsidiaries operate the Darajat and Salak geothermal fields in West Java, with a combined capacity of 235 megawatts (MW) equivalent of steam and 402 MW of electricity.

In the Philippines, company subsidiaries have a 40 percent equity interest in Philippine Geothermal Production Co. Inc., which operates the Tiwi and Mak-Ban geothermal field in Southern Luzon and supplies steam to two power plants with a combined name plate capacity of around 700 MW.

These two power plants are the 289-MW Tiwi plants in Albay and the 458-MW Mak-Ban facilities in Laguna and Batangas owned and operated by the Aboitiz Group.

AC Energy earlier announced its plans to double its attributable capacity to 2,000 MW, closing the gap between fossil fuel and renewable energy, after it breached its 1,000-MW target with the construction of the 668-MW GN Power Dinginin Ltd. Co. (GNPD) coal plant.

AC Energy now has a total attributable capacity of 1,088 MW from its coal and renewable assets.

Doubling the capacity will also double its commitment in the power sector to nearly P80 billion through expansion of existing assets, acquisitions or partnerships, and greenfield projects here and abroad.

Clifford Chance Pte Ltd. acted as the lead transaction counsel to the consortium. Credit Suisse acted as the sole financial advisor and joint financier while Bank of the Philippine Islands and DBS acted as lead coordinators for the debt financing.