Saturday, May 10, 2008 Aboitiz loans fund to complete hydropower project
THE Aboitiz Power group was able to secure a P3.6-billion loan from three local banks in the country for the construction and completion of the 42.5 megawatt (MW) Sibulan Hydropower Project (SHP).
The credit facility will be provided by Metrobank, Philippine National Bank (PNB), and Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC). The loan is payable in 12 years.
"SHP president Rene Ronquillo and Hedcor Incorporated, chairman Erramon Aboitiz will be signing the loan grant on May 21 to be held at the Makati Shangri-la Hotel," Aboitiz Power said.
Located in Barangay Sibulan, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, SHP broke ground on September 7, 2007 for the construction of the P5 billion, 42.5-MW SHP.
"We are glad to bring clean energy to Davao and be part of the development of the Sibulan community," said Aboitiz.
SHP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corporation (APC), the publicly-listed holding company of all Aboitiz assets in the power generation and distribution industries.
The SHP is a green-field project, which entails the construction of two cascading hydropower generating facilities tapping the Sibulan and Baroring Rivers.
These facilities can generate an estimated 212 million kilowatt-hours (kWhs) of clean and emissions-free energy annually.
The generation from these plants will be supplied to the third largest privately-owned power distribution utility in the country, Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) starting August 2009.
SHP, together with Hedcor, Inc., Philippine HydroPower Corp. (PHC), Hedcor, Inc., and Hedcor Tamugan, Inc., won an open and competitive bid last February to supply DLPC a total of 400 million kWhs annually, which is covered by a 12-year power sales agreement signed last March.
Aside from generating energy that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents per year, the project also brings a number of benefits to its host communities.
Among them are rural electrification, an estimated P13 million annual community share on top of government-mandated taxes, and more than 44 kilometers (km) of road opening and improvements worth approximately P250 million. (MSN/Sunnex)
