EDC seeks to raise up to P 5B via Asean Green Bonds offering

Energy Development Corp. (EDC) is gearing up to expand its fleet of geothermal power plants and offering up to P5 billion worth of Asean Green Bonds available until June 18, the first tranche of a P15-billion program.

EDC, a subsidiary of Lopez-led First Gen Corp., secured on June 14 the green light from the Security and Exchange Commission for the shelf registration of the bonds and the selling of P3 billion worth of bonds with an option for oversubscription of up to P2 billion.

“Our maiden green bonds will enable us to expand our 100-percent clean energy portfolio, which is crucial to decarbonizing our country’s growing economy,” EDC president and chief operating officer Richard B. Tantoco said in a statement.

EDC’s pure-play portfolio includes 1,186 megawatts (MW) of geothermal, 150 MW of wind, 132 MW of hydroelectric power, and 12 MW of solar power plants—a total of 1,480 MW.

“In particular, it will fund our geothermal expansion projects and maintenance capital expenditure projects so that we can meet the baseload or 24/7 power needs of our customers,” Tantoco said.

The company’s geothermal assets are spread out across the Bicol region, the islands of Leyte and Negros and Mindanao.

Just last week, EDC broke ground to start construction of the P7-billion, 29-megawatt Palayan Binary Power Plant in Albay. This project expands their power generation capacity without the need to drill any additional well at the Bacon-Manito steam field.

EDC’s Asean Green Bonds are priced at the lowest end of the range of 2.8565 percent for the three-year issue and 3.7305 percent for the five-year series. INQ