AboitizPower tapping debt market anew with P 12-B bond offer

Aboitiz Power Corp. is looking at issuing up to P12 billion in bonds in the fourth quarter this year to top up funds for existing and future projects, including efforts to beef up its renewable energy portfolio.

This would be the second tranche of a P30-billion shelf registration setup approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and follows the first call just last March that raised P8 billion.

AboitizPower’s board gave its green light last Sept. 17, but as with other bonds with shelf registration, the timing of the issuance will depend on market conditions. The practice allows a company to offer in tranches new bonds within a period of time.

The new bonds are intended to be listed on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corporation.

The company’s management has yet to determine the issue amount, interest rate, offer price, tenors and other terms and conditions.

“Proceeds of the second tranche bonds will be used for refinancing, general corporate purposes and/or future renewable projects,” AboitizPower said in a disclosure.

Last August, the Aboitiz group’s power generation arm announced plans to spend P190 billion in the next 10 years to expand its renewable energy fleet.

This means adding 3,700 megawatts of generating capacity to AboitizPower’s “cleanergy” array of assets.

If realized, the company will achieve a 50:50 balance between renewables and fossil fuel based generators in its portfolio by 2030.

This is also part of plans to expand AboitizPower’s total attributable net sellable capacity to 9,200 MW within the decade.

So far, AboitizPower has identified a total of 2,900 MW of renewable energy projects, mostly solar but also including wind and hydro, which are in varying stages of development and located mainly in Luzon.

AboitizPower is optimistic that it can hit its 2030 goal without building any new coal-fired power plants. Still, the firm is committed to maintaining its existing coal-fired generators with the view that this technology remains the most economical at this time.

Emmanuel V. Rubio, AboitizPower president and chief executive, said the company would have its “Net Zero vision” agenda released in the next few months. Companies all over the world are setting a target for net-zero carbon emissions to address climate change. INQ