ACEN takes over Quezon wind project

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala-led ACEN Corp. has further heated up its power game as it takes full control of a massive, onshore wind project in Quezon province, touted to be the largest of its kind in the country.

In a regulatory filing, ACEN said it signed a share purchase agreement and deed of absolute sale of shares with boutique RE firm Maraj Energy and Development Corp. to buy out its stake in Real Wind Energy Inc. (RWEI).

RWEI is a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) for the development and operation of the 500-megawatt (MW) wind energy project in the municipality of Real in Quezon.

The transaction involves the purchase of the remaining 6,000 common shares held by Maraj Energy in RWEI.

The financial details of the deal were not immediately made available.

This followed ACEN’s acquisition of 4,000 RWEI common shares, previously held by Modern Energy Management Pte. Ltd., in March.

According to ACEN, the latest transaction would provide an additional 500 MW in its power generation portfolio.

“This new acquisition presents opportunities for synergies through the joint use of logistical routes, transmission lines and substation infrastructure,” the listed firm noted.

Likewise, ACEN also extended a loan facility of P70 million to RWEI to fund the general corporate requirements of the wind project.

The RWEI venture was called a “unicorn” project by some industry experts due to its strategic location, wind speed, capacity factor and accessibility.

In fact, the wind farm is strategically located close to another ACEN wind project spanning Laguna and Quezon.

The project, to be developed in three phases, is expected to position Real as the country’s renewable energy (RE) hub, establishing a new wind energy corridor in the area and neighboring towns.

Maraj Energy president and CEO Mark Alburo earlier told The STAR that the combined wind farm sites would be Southeast Asia’s largest contiguous wind energy corridor.

In a separate disclosure, the Ayala Group’s listed energy platform said it subscribed to 2.1 million redeemable preferred shares B of unit Gigasol1 Inc. at an issue price of P1,000 apiece, for a total subscription price of P2.1 billion.

Gigasol1 is an SPV for the construction of the ACEN Group’s RE projects in the country.

ACEN said the subscription price would be issued out of the increase in the subsidiary’s authorized capital stock, subject to regulatory approvals from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Gigasol1 would use the fresh capital to bankroll “development activities relating to renewable energy projects in the Philippines,” it noted.

These latest investments are all aligned with the ACEN Group’s efforts to quadruple its attributable RE capacity to 20 gigawatts (GW) by 2030.

Currently, ACEN has about 4.8 GW of attributable RE capacity in operation and under construction, on top of the recently signed agreements and competitive tenders worth over one GW.