Ayala eyes takeover of Negros solar farms
AC Energy Philippines Inc. (ACEPH), formerly Phinma Energy Corp., is beefing up its renewable energy portfolio by buying out Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure (Pinai) in the latter’s solar farms in Negros.
This is in addition to the previously announced plan to acquire Pinai’s interest in Philippine Wind Holdings Corp., the parent company of North Luzon Renewables Energy Corp. where AC Energy Inc. is a partner.
Pinai is a fund that the Government Service Insurance System launched in 2012 in partnership with the Asian Development Bank, Dutch pension fund asset manager Algemene Pension Groep and Australia’s Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Asset (Mira).
ACEPH is working toward the acquisition of up to 100-percent of Pinai’s interest in San Carlos Solar Energy Inc. (Sacasol), which owns and operates a 45-megawatt solar farm in Negros Occidental.
As well, the company wants to buy up to 100-percent of Pinai’s interest in Negros Island Solar Power Inc. (Islasol), which owns and operates 80 MW of solar farms in the same province.
In 2018, Dutch consultancy Solarplaza said Philippine facilities occupy 10 slots in Southeast Asia’s top 25 operational solar power plants.
No. 1 on Solarplaza’s list is 132.5-MW Cadiz solar power plant in Negros Occidental. Owned by the Equis Fund Group, this went online in 2016 and was then the biggest in Southeast Asia. Islasol’s farm ranked eighth while Sacasol’s facility ranked 14th.
Other Philippine solar plants listed by Solarplaza are the 63-MW Solar Philippines plant in Calatagan, Batangas (9th) ; 59-MW Toledo project of Citicore Power in Cebu (10th); and 59-MW San Carlos Sun Power plant in Negros Occidental (11th).
