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Friday, March 29, 2024

Ayala unit sells hydro projects

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AC Energy Holdings Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of conglomerate Ayala Corp., said Tuesday it sold a majority 70-percent stake in three hydroelectric power projects to partner Sta. Clara Group Inc. to focus on solar, wind and geothermal developments.

“AC Energy will first focus on solar and wind development and could potentially revisit hydro in the future,” AC Energy president John Eric Francia said, when asked for comment on why the company divested from hydro projects.

Ayala Corp. said in a disclosure to the stock exchange that unit AC Energy signed definitive documents to sell all of its ownership stake in each of QuadRiver Energy Corp., Philnew Hydro Power Corp. and PhilnewRiver Corp., collectively known as the hydro companies to Sta. Clara Group.

“Prior to this sale, AC Energy held 70 percent of the outstanding capital stock of each of the hydro companies, with Sta. Clara Power Corp. being the owner of the remaining 30 percent,” Ayala Corp. said.

The Energy Department granted several hydro service contracts to the hydro companies.

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Francia earlier said the company’s hydro projects had yet to fully take off.  Tinoc hydro projects in Ifugao is in the most advanced stage among the three projects.

Quadriver already received an approval from the Energy Department for the Tinoc hydro projects in Ifugao with a capacity of 14.5 megawatts. These included 3-MW Tinoc 1 hydro, 6.5-MW Tinoc 2 hydro and 5-MW Tinoc 3 hydro.

Ayala Corp. is diversifying into geothermal projects and signed in December the sale and purchase agreement with Chevron Global Energy Inc., Union Oil Co. of California and their relevant affiliates (collectively, Chevron) for the purchase of Chevron’s geothermal operations in Indonesia and the Philippines.

AC Energy was a part of an Indonesian and Philippine consortium that signed the sale agreement for Chevron’s geothermal assets.

The Indonesia consortium consists of AC Energy (with 19.8 percent economic stake), Star Energy Group Holdings Pte. Ltd., Star Energy Geothermal Pte. Ltd. and Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd. 

The acquisition will be made through their joint venture company, Star Energy Geothermal (Salak-Darajat) B.V. The acquisition value was not disclosed.

The Philippine consortium consists of AC Energy and Star Energy Group Holdings Pte. Ltd. and the acquisition will be made through their joint venture company, Acehi-Star Holdings Inc.  

AC Energy said the closing of the transaction was subject to the satisfaction of certain agreed conditions, including the approval of the Philippine Competition Commission for the Philippine assets. 

“This acquisition is a major milestone for AC Energy as this scales up our renewable energy platform and establishes our presence in Indonesia. This is a significant step towards attaining our goal of reaching 2000MW by 2020,” said Francia.

In Indonesia, Chevron subsidiaries operate the Darajat and Salak geothermal fields in West Java, with a combined capacity of 235 MW equivalent of steam and 402 MW of electricity.

In the Philippines, company subsidiaries have a 40-percent equity interest in the Philippine Geothermal Production Company, Inc., which operates the Tiwi and Mak-Ban geothermal field in Southern Luzon and supplies steam to power plants with a combined name plate capacity of around 700 MW. 

AC Energy is the development arm of the Ayala group in the energy sector. The company is building a portfolio of power generation assets using renewable and conventional technologies.

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