Pertamina subsidiary to take 20% stake in CREC

Edgar Saavedra-led firm Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC) is set to gain a massive boost through a P6.7-billion investment deal with a subsidiary of Indonesian state-owned energy giant Pertamina, a development that could open the way for its regional expansion.

The listed renewable energy producer bared on Friday its strategic partnership with Indonesian state-owned PT Pertamina Power Indonesia (Pertamina New & Renewable Energy or NRE), involving the latter purchasing 2.23 billion common shares in CREC at P3 apiece.

The transaction will translate to 20-percent interest in CREC.

READ: Citicore partners with Singapore’s Levanta for wind projects

According to CREC, this would be Pertamina NRE’s first investment in the Philippine market, happening at a time when the local renewable energy sector has been aggressively taking shape with more projects on the pipeline and government policies supporting the business climate.

With this deal, the Filipino firm expresses bullishness about its capacity to roll out more clean energy projects, not just in the Philippines, but also in Indonesia.

Likewise, Pertamina NRE could cash in on CREC’s expertise in project development.

“The partnership with Pertamina NRE presents limitless opportunities for Indonesia and the Philippines to collaborate on innovative technologies and practices in renewable energy,” Oliver Tan, CREC president and chief executive officer, told the local bourse.

Opening doors

“It gives a wider stage to CREC’s unique end-to-end capabilities by opening doors in Indonesia even as we drive our developments in the Philippines at full speed,” Tan added.

The funds to be raised from this transaction would bolster CREC’s target of growing its renewable portfolio to 5,000 megawatts (MW) in five years.

Currently, CREC’s portfolio accounts for an aggregate installed capacity of 285 MW from 10 solar power facilities across the country.

Last December, the Philippines soared to second spot as one of the top renewable investment hubs in emerging markets, based on the 2024 Climatescope Report by BloombergNEF.

The government has set an ambitious target of scaling up the contribution of clean energy in the power generation mix to 35 percent by 2030 from 22 percent at present.