Ayala unit invests P 1.86B in solar firm

AC Energy Philippines Inc. is investing an additional P1.86 billion in SolarAce1 Energy Corp., representing a 26-percent interest in the company which is building a 120-megawatt solar power farm in Laguna.

ACEPH said in a regulatory filing it had signed a subscription agreement related to 6 mil­lion Class A common shares and 180 million Class A redeemable preferred shares in SolarAce1.This transaction is among several that the company disclosed last October, shortly after the Ayala group through AC Energy Inc. took over the management of what was then named Phinma Energy Corp.

SolarAce1 is one of the subsidiaries of AC Energy that was acquired by ACEPH in a property-for-share swap, pending regulatory approvals.

“The subscription will be used to fund initial works to start the construction of the plant, which will be located in Alaminos [town],” ACEPH said in its disclosure.

Last December, ACEPH president John Eric Francia said the company was expecting within the next 12 months to begin operations of several generation assets with an aggregate capacity of 550 MW, including the power plant in Rizal province.The remainder relates to two solar facilities, the one in Alaminos as well as a 60-MW plant in Palauig, Zambales.

Francia said the facility in Rizal alone would take less than a year to complete.

Also last month, ACEPH signed agreements with investors of the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure fund to purchase fully the latter’s ownership

interest in San Carlos Solar Energy Inc. (Sacasol) and in

Neg­ros Island Solar Power Inc. (Islasol).

Sacasol owns and operates a 45-MW solar farm in Negros Occidental province while Islasol has 80 MW of solar farms in the same province. INQ