ACEN injects additional P312.5 million into solar project

MANILA, Philippines — ACEN Corp. is investing an additional P312.5 million in the special purpose vehicle developing a solar farm project in Cagayan through subscription of more shares.

ACEN, in a stock exchange filing, said it subscribed to additional 114,820 shares of Natures Renewable Energy Devt. Corp. (NAREDCO) composed of 66,470 redeemable preferred shares A (RPS A) and 48,350 redeemable preferred shares C (RPS C) to be issued out of the increase in the latter’s authorized capital stock.

The RPS A were priced at P2,820.51 per share for a total of P187.48 million, while the RPS C have a par value of P2,585.55 apiece for a total of P125 million.

ACEN said the subscription price would be used by NAREDCO to fund the development of the 133-megawatt direct current (MWdc) Cagayan North solar power plant project (Phase 1) in Lal-lo, Cagayan.

NAREDCO is a special purpose vehicle for the development of the solar power plant, which is ACEN’s joint venture project with Cleantech Renewable Energy 4 Co.

Commercial operations of the project, which will be developed in two phases, is expected to commence in 2024.

ACEN has been infusing additional investments in NAREDCO through subscription of shares.

It injected P1.46 billion in December last year, P271.48 million in November, and P1.29 billion in August, all of which were used to fund the development of the solar power project.

In September last year, ACEN’s board approved the revised funding of the project to include additional investment in Phase 1 and the 100-MWdc expansion.

ACEN, the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group, currently has about 4,200 MW of attributable capacity from owned facilities in the Philippines, Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and India, with a renewable share of 98 percent, which is among the highest in the region.

The company aims to be the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia, with a goal of reaching 20 gigawatts of renewables capacity by 2030.

It is also committed to transition the company’s generation portfolio to 100 percent renewable energy by 2025 and become a net zero greenhouse gas emissions company by 2050.