Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR) has listed with the Philippine Dealing Exchange Corp. (PDEx) an initial P 100 million of its P2.5 billion commercial papers for its first renewable energy (RE) project.
ACR started trading the initial tranche to help partially finance the working capital for the the group’s first venture in the renewable energy sector.
ACR Executive Vice President and Alsons Power CEO Tirso Santillan, Jr. said the ceremonial listing “is a high point in our efforts to tap the short-term capital market for our working capital needs.”
Alsons Power Group is working on the P 4.25 billion Siguil run-of-river hydropower plant in Maasim, Sarangani. It has the projected capacity of 15 MW.
The Siguil plant is expected to begin commercial operations by 2021 and will provide power to Sarangani Province, General Santos City, and key municipalities of South Cotabato.
ACR Chief Finance Officer Robert Yenko said the issuance of commercial papers is also to give the company the flexibility to tap funding sources for the initial phase of development of other hydro power projects.
“It’s just for working capital needs. It gives us some flexibility. Sometimes, they come up cheaper than bank loans. And whenever that happens, then we will tap that,” he said.
Aside from South Cotabato, ACR is also planning to add run-of river hydroelectric power projects in Negros Occidental, Sarangani, Davao Oriental, Zamboanga del Norte, the two Agusan Provinces, and Surigao del Sur.
These projects have a total potential hydro capacity of more than 145 MW.
“We’re looking to add up to 145 MW of renewable energy from the eight run-of-river hydro power facilities that we will be developing in various locations in Mindanao and Negros Occidental. This facility will give us the ability to bridge the financial requirements of our projects under development,” ACR executive vice president Tirso Santillan said.
ACR is also in the final stages of building the so-called Section 2 of the 210 MW Sarangani Energy Corp. baseload coal-fired power plant in Maasim.
Next year, ACR will begin the construction of the 105-MW San Ramon Power Inc. (SRPI) baseload coal-fired power plant in Zamboanga City, which is expected to begin commercial operations by 2022.
