First Gen borrows P7 billion to boost hydro unit

MANILA, Philippines —  First Gen Corp. of the Lopez Group has secured P7 billion in financing from three local banks to fuel the operations of its hydropower business.

First Gen, through its subsidiary First Gen Hydro Power Corp. (FG Hydro), recently signed separate loan agreements with BDO Unibank Inc., Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC).

The multibillion-peso loan facilities will be utilized by FG Hydro to finance its general corporate requirements.

“This financing will enhance our capability to offer a competitive portfolio of clean energy to the nation. We are very grateful for the continued trust and support of our partner banks – BDO, BPI and RCBC,” First Gen CFO Emmanuel Singson said.

FG Hydro currently owns and operates the 132-megawatt (MW) Pantabangan-Masiway hydroelectric power plant in Nueva Ecija.

“Hydroelectric plants play a crucial role in our country’s energy security and decarbonization goals,” Singson said.

Aside from the Pantabangan-Masiway facility, First Gen is also operating the 165-MW Casecnan power plant in Nueva Ecija.

Ownership and operation of the Casecnan plant were turned over to First Gen Group earlier this year after it topped the government’s auction last year with a $526-million offer, significantly exceeding the minimum bid price.

To further boost its portfolio, the company has also expressed its intention in joining the bidding war for the 797-MW Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) hydroelectric power plant in Laguna.

CBK is the major privatization project of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. this year and is a priority source of the government’s non-tax revenues.

A source earlier told The STAR that the state-run firm remains on track to turnover the asset to the winning bidder next year.

Apart from First Gen, other prospective bidders are Japan’s Marubeni Corp., Semirara Mining and Power Corp. of tycoon Isidro Consunji, ACEN Corp.’s Giga Ace 11 Inc. and Thunder Consortium consisting of Aboitiz Renewables Inc., Electric Power Development Corp. and Sumitomo Corp.

If successful in the auction round, First Gen expects the CBK complex to bring additional capacity to its clean energy portfolio.

As the country’s largest producer of clean power, the firm boasts a combined capacity of over 1,600 MW from its solar, wind, hydro and geothermal power plants.

Its other power generation facilities run on natural gas, the cleanest form of fossil fuel, with a total capacity of over 2,000 MW.