AboitizPower unit secures P10-B loan for Bukidnon hydro facility

MANILA, Philippines - A unit of Aboitiz Power Corp. has secured financing of up to P10 billion from several banks to bankroll the construction of a 68.8-megawatt (MW) hydropower plant in Bukidnon.

Hedcor Bukidnon Inc. has obtained “loans and credit accommodations” of up to P10 billion from a consortium of lender-banks, AboitizPower said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday.

Hedcor Bukidnon is a unit under Hedcor Inc., the company which operates all the hydropower projects of the Aboitiz Group. Hedcor, meanwhile, is a unit under Aboitiz Renewables Inc., the holding company for all renewable energy projects.

AboitizPower said the borrowing would be used to “finance the development, construction, operation and maintenance of its 68.8-MW hydroelectric power generation facility located in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon.”

Hedcor Bukidnon has tapped BPI Capital Corp. as lead arranger and bookrunner, while Bank of the Philippine Islands-Asset Management and Trust Group acted as trustee and facility agent.

Last May, AboitizPower said it would borrow up to P10 billion to finance the Bukidnon hydropower project.

The Manolo Fortich hydroelectric power plant, Hedcor’s 23rd hydropower project, is targeted to be commissioned by December 2016.

Earlier this month, Hedcor Bukidnon sought regulatory approval to build a P612.41-million transmission facility that would link its power plant to the main Mindanao grid.

A pre-trial conference has been on Sept. 29 to deliberate on the application.

Scheduled to be operational by 2017, the Manolo Fortich plant is among the power projects that will be adding 370 MW capacity in Mindanao that year in the medium term.

Hedcor currently manages and operates 22 hydropower plants and supplies the country with 185 MW of clean and renewable energy.