The agreement is with a group of foreign and local banks and consists of US dollar and Philippine peso tranches. It will mature in 15 years.
The Danish export credit agency, Eksport Kredit Fonden, has guaranteed a part of the dollar loan component. The Mandated Lead Arrangers for the foreign tranche are Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ), DZ Bank AG, ING Bank NV, Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) and Norddeutsche Landesbank Gironzentrale. The local tranche, meanwhile was arranged by PNB Capital and Investment Corporation and SB Capital Investment Corporation among a syndicate of local lenders namely BDO Unibank, Inc., Land Bank of the Philippines, Philippine National Bank, and Security Bank Corporation.
“This fresh loan is a sign of confidence from funding institutions on EDC’s ability to execute a strategic business plan for our wind project amidst intense competition in the renewable energy industry” said EDC President and Chief Operating Officer Richard Tantoco. “With construction in full swing, we are confident that we will meet our target commissioning date and avail of the Feed-in-Tariff.”
Mr Tantoco added that the provision of 370 GWh of electricity to approximately 2 million households will also entail the displacement of about 200,000 tons of carbon emissions annually
The BWP is aiming to become the first wind project in the country to take advantage of the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) which the Department of Energy will grant to 200 MW of wind projects on a first to commission, first served basis. Its entire electrical output is intended to be sold under the FIT system pursuant to the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.
Once operational, the BWP will be the largest wind farm in the Philippines comprising a total of 50 large scale Vestas V90-3.0MW wind turbines and ancillary plant to be supplied and constructed by Vestas. Aside from the wind farm, the project also includes a 115 kV transmission line connecting the wind farm from the Burgos substation to the Laoag substation of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), as well as the expansion of the switchyard/substations.
The BWP is one of the largest investments to date in Ilocos Norte. It occupies a 600 hectare site covering three barangays, namely, Saoit, Poblacion and Nagsurot, in Burgos, Ilocos Norte. It is also EDC’s first wind power project after establishing itself as the country’s leading geothermal producer.
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