ACEN secures P5 billion loan facility from Metrobank

MANILA, Philippines — ACEN Corp., the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group, has secured a fresh debt deal with a local bank to beef up its war chest.

In a stock exchange filing, ACEN said it secured a P5-billion term loan facility from Metrobank.

The company said proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes, which include capital expenditures for the renewable energy projects of the ACEN Group.

ACEN has earmarked between P50 billion and P70 billion in capital expenditures this year to continue growing its renewable energy portfolio.

Last year, the company spent P50.6 billion to accelerate its renewables expansion, commencing construction of over 1,300 megawatts (MW) of new solar and wind farms in the Philippines, Australia, and India.

ACEN is working towards being the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia, with a goal of reaching 20 gigawatts

(GW) of renewables capacity by 2030.

Of its 20-GW target, eight GW of clean energy projects will be in the Philippines.

For the country alone, the company will require around $6.5 billion to $7 billion of incremental capex to have in place the target of eight-GW or 8,000-MW portfolio of clean energy projects by the end of the decade.

On top of the eight GW of clean energy projects in the Philippines which will remain its core market, ACEN expects the geographic mix of its portfolio by 2030 to include five GW in Australia, three GW in Indonesia and other markets, as well as two GW each in Vietnam and India.

The company currently has about 4,500 MW of attributable capacity from owned facilities in the Philippines, Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia and India, with a renewable share of 98 percent.

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