AC Energy readies sale of stake in Bataan and Mindanao power projects

AYALA-LED AC Energy, Inc. plans to sell its investments in coal-fired power plant projects in Bataan and Lanao del Norte in line with its goal to generate more than half of its energy output from renewables by 2025.

Eric T. Francia, AC Energy president and chief executive officer, said the company had completed the transfer of all onshore Philippine assets to publicly listed subsidiary AC Energy Philippines, Inc., or ACEN, except for these projects.

“Ang hindi lang in-infuse na Philippine assets ng AC Energy, Inc. is the GNPower plants, both Mindanao, Kauswagan; and ‘yung AA thermal, ‘yung Dinginin and tsaka Mariveles,” he told reporters in an online briefing.

(The Philippine assets of AC Energy, Inc. that were not infused are the GNPower plants, both the one in Kauswagan, Mindanao, and those under AA Thermal, Inc.—the projects in Dinginin and Mariveles.)

GNPower Kauswagan Ltd. Co. is building a four-unit, “clean”, coal-fired power plant, each with an identical capacity of 138 megawatts (MW) or a total of 552 MW in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte.

AC Energy has a stake in the 632-MW GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co. and in the 668-MW supercritical coal-fired plant GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. AA Thermal holds AC Energy’s interests in the Mariveles and Dinginin projects.

AC Energy, whose change of name to AC Energy and Infrastructure Corp. (ACEIC) was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 18, is the holding firm for ACEN’s energy platform.

“‘Yung naiwan kay ACEIC because we have plans of divesting those coal plants… We didn’t feel the need to infuse those large coal plants in ACEN,” Mr. Francia said.

He earlier said that ACEN would need around $1.8 billion to $2 billion to help it realize that vision. He said that the company would undergo corporate restructuring in the next couple of years, and that ACEN would seek to raise funds of $500 million to $600 million as growth capital to add to its $700 million cash reserves.

The company aspires to exceed 5 gigawatts of attributable capacity and generate at least 50% of energy from renewables by 2025.

On Friday, shares in ACEN rose by 11.96% to close at P5.80 apiece. — Angelica Y. Yang