Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc., a unit of Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., has secured P9 billion in loans for its P12.6-billion bulk water supply project in Davao City.
Aboitiz Equity Ventures said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Apo Agua signed an agreement with a consortium of lender-banks to obtain P9 billion in loans to finance the construction and operation of a 347 million-liter-per-day water treatment facility to supply bulk water to the Davao City Water District, and an integrated 2.5-megawatt hydro-electric power plant.
The consortium of lender-banks is composed of BPI Capital Corp. as lead arranger and book runner, China Bank Capital Corp. as joint lead arranger, Bank of the Philippine Islands, China Banking Corp., Development Bank of the Philippines and Bank of Commerce as initial note holders, and BPI Asset Management and Trust Corp. as trustee and notes facility agent.
Set to be the largest private bulk water supply facility in the country, the Davao project will provide to DCWD over 300 million liters per day (mld) of safe water.
The treated water will be distributed to over one million residents through the DCWD’s five existing water systems, namely, Dumoy, Calinan, Tugbok, Panacan, and Cabantian, as well as through three additional new water systems in Talandang, Mandug and Indangan.
The project is scheduled for completion by 2021.
The project’s water treatment facility will be powered by renewable energy from a hydroelectric power plant.
By tapping the Tamugan River, the project will gain access to the right quality and ample quantity of water to allow the DCWD to temporarily shut down many of its groundwater well sources.
Aboitiz Equity earlier said the project would ensure the preservation of the city’s water table and save it from irreversible environmental degradation, such as land subsidence and saltwater intrusion—both typical results of groundwater over-extraction.