ACEN OKs P150 million short term loan for ACEX

MANILA, Philippines — AC Energy Corp. (ACEN) has approved a short term loan of up to P150 million for ACE Enexor Inc. (ACEX), the listed oil and gas exploration and production unit of the Ayala Group.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ACEN said the loan would be used to fund the initial subscription of ACEX to shares in Batangas Clean Energy Inc. (BCEI), the company’s joint venture company with Red Holdings B.V. for the development of an integrated liquified natural gas terminal (LNG) and a combined cycle natural gas and hydrogen power plant.

ACEX earlier announced that its board of directors authorized the company to secure bank loans of up to P150 million to be guaranteed by ACEN subject to the payment of a guarantee fee.

Its board of directors approved the joint venture between the company and Red Holdings B.V. (Gen X Energy), a wholly owned subsidiary of Gen X Energy L.P., to develop a 1,100-megawatt (MW) combined cycle power plant that will be able to use natural gas and/or green hydrogen as its fuel to provide firm power to the grid to meet the country’s growing energy demand.

The joint venture will be through a special purpose vehicle company, BCEI, where the company and Gen X Energy will each own a 50 percent interest, subject to satisfaction of agreed conditions precedent and execution of definitive documents.

Gen X Energy L.P. is a portfolio company of Blackstone Inc., the world’s largest alternative asset manager.

Apart from the short-term loan approval, the ACEN board of directors also approved its investment in and construction of a solar power plant in Pampanga.

ACEN said the solar power plant project would be located in Arayat and Mexico in Pampanga and would be constructed through Greencore Power Solutions 3, its joint venture company with Citicore Solar Energy Corp.

The company’s board of directors also approved the extension of the maturity of the existing loan and increasing the interest rate for a solar project to be built in Arayat and Mexico Pampanga.

ACEN is the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group. It has over 3,000 MW of attributable capacity in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Australia.

The company aims to be the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia, with a goal of reaching 5,000 MW of renewables capacity by 2025.