AboitizPower’s bond deal bags international awards

The project bond issued for the Tiwi-MakBan Geothermal Energy Project of AboitizPower bagged the 2016 Bond Deal of the Year of the prestigious Project Finance International magazine of Thomson Reuters.

The awarding ceremony will be held on Feb. 1, 2017 at the Hilton, Park Lane in London.

The project bond has also been touted as one of the best in Asia, getting the Best Renewable Deal of the Year by Alpha Southeast Asia, to be awarded on Jan 25, 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The P12.5-billion local currency, multi-tranche bond issuance, backed by the Asian Development Bank, was the first green bond issuance in Asia and the Pacific.

AboitizPower through its subsidiary AP Renewables Inc. (APRI) used the issuance to finance the rehabilitation of the Tiwi-MakBan geothermal power facilities, which it bought from the government in 2009 and to partially fund its operating expenditures and future capital investments.

The two power plants, located in Batangas and Laguna (Makban) as well as in Tiwi, Albay combine for 390MW of clean renewable power for the Luzon grid.

“This award proves we are on the right path, both in our efforts to find power generation technologies that support global commitments to address climate change and in our intention to find innovative and viable financing options to support our plans,” AboitizPower President and COO Antonio O. Moraza said.

“It has always been our goal to provide ample, reliable and reasonably priced power through a balanced mix of generation assets so we can support the energy needs of the Philippines,” Moraza said.

The climate bond for Tiwi-MakBan was certified by the Climate Bonds Initiative and is considered the first in Asia and the Pacific.

AboitizPower has one of the widest portfolio of energy sources in the country. Thirty-nine percent of its 3,350 MW sellable capacity comes from its renewable power plants – geothermal, large hydro, runof-river hydro and solar power plants.

The company also operates a number of coal power plants for baseload capacity and oil-fired power plants for reliable peaking supply.