ACEN extends payment deadline for P4.7 billion loan to Greencore

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala-led ACEN Corp. has extended anew the repayment deadline for its P4.7-billion loan to Greencore Power Solution 3, its joint venture with tycoon Edgar Saavedra’s Citicore Solar Energy Corp. (CSEC).

In a stock exchange filing yesterday, ACEN said its executive committee approved the extension of the maturity date for its credit facility to Greencore until March 31 next year, with the terms remaining unchanged.

While the original maturity date has yet to be disclosed, this latest extension comes after ACEN granted Greencore a one-year reprieve in July 2023.

Greencore, a special purpose company equally owned by ACEN and CSEC, has used the financing to support the development and operation of the 115-megawatt (MW) Arayat-Mexico solar farm in Pampanga.

The solar project has been integrated into the grid for over two years, providing clean power to 19,000 homes and avoiding 51,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually.

Greencore completed the first 72 MW of the project in 2022, followed by an additional 43 MW expansion a year later.

“In line with our strategy of leveraging partnerships and synergies in the power sector, we are extremely pleased to showcase another successful venture that moves us closer to our shared goals of sustainable development for our country,” ACEN chief development officer Jose Maria Zabaleta earlier said.

As the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group, ACEN wants to scale up its attributable renewables capacity to 20 gigawatts (GW) over the next six years.

To date, ACEN has a global generation portfolio of 6.8 GW, consisting of fully operational assets, projects under construction and committed projects.

“With our aligned goals in providing renewable energy alternatives, we believe that our succeeding collaborations will empower us to move faster towards a sustainable and carbon-neutral future,” said Oliver Tan, president and chief executive officer of CSEC parent Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC).

CREC, a pure-play renewables platform focused on and committed to the development of clean energy projects, intends to expand its portfolio with a target of five GW of solar capacity by 2028.