EDC’s P10 billion Asean green bonds get SEC greenlight

MANILA, Philippines — Energy Development Corp. (EDC) has obtained the green light from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise as much as P10 billion via the issuance of ASEAN green bonds.

The corporate regulator has issued a Certificate of Permit to Offer Securities for Sale to EDC.

“This second tranche ASEAN green bonds will support the growth and resiliency of our renewable energy portfolio as we serve the growing economy’s increasing energy needs while pursuing the country’s decarbonization and net zero journey,” EDC president and COO Jerome Cainglet said.

The bonds are priced at 6.7478 percent, 6.8873 percent and 7.0626 percent for the three, five and seven-year series, respectively.

“This will be part of the P60 billion capital investment program that EDC is undertaking for its drilling operations program over the next three years and its renewable energy growth initiatives. In particular, the green bonds will partially fund our geothermal and battery expansion projects and our various resiliency and maintenance capital expenditure projects,” he added.

BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and BPI Capital Corp. are the joint issue managers. At the same time, BDO and BPI Capital, as well as China Bank Capital Corp. and SB Capital Investment Corp. were appointed as the lead underwriters and bookrunners.

RCBC Trust Corp. and RCBC Capital Corp. were appointed as the trustee and the selling agent, respectively.

The offer period is open from May 13 to 17.

EDC has a total capacity of 1,464.5 megawatts, which is composed of 1,170 MW of geothermal, 150 MW of wind, 132 MW of hydro and 12 MW of solar.

The company accounts for 18 percent of the country’s total installed renewable energy capacity, with 60 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity in 2022.