Ayala invests in Indonesia wind farm project
THE AYALA GROUP is venturing in Indonesia’s renewable energy sector by investing in a wind farm project worth $150 million.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Ayala Corp. announced its wholly owned subsidiary AC Energy Holdings, Inc. has signed investment agreements with UPC Renewables Indonesia Ltd. for the development and operation of a wind farm in Sidrap, South Sulawesi.
PT UPC Sidrap Bayu Energi, a special purpose company based in Indonesia, will develop the wind farm with generating capacity of 75 megawatts (MW). The project will become the country’s first utility-scale wind farm once completed by yearend.
“The Sidrap Project is the first greenfield offshore investment of AC Energy, through its affiliate, AC Energy International Holdings Pte Ltd., a Singapore private limited company,” the parent company noted in the disclosure.
The wind farm, costing $150 million, will receive equity and project financing from Overseas Private Investment Corp., the American government’s development finance institution, as well as PT Bank Sumitomo Mitsui Indonesia, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. of Japan.
UPC Renewables finances, constructs, owns and operates a portfolio of wind power generation assets. It has undertaken renewable energy projects in Italy, the United States, Canada, China and the Philippines.
In the Philippines, UPC Renewables owns together with AC Energy the North Luzon Renewable Energy Corp., the operator of the 81-MW Caparispisan wind farm in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.
AC Energy owns two other facilities using renewable energy in the country. The company partnered with Bronzeoak Philippines to build an 18-MW solar plant in Bais, Negros Oriental. It also formed a joint venture with Northwind Founders for a 52-MW wind farm in Bangui, Ilocos Norte.
The energy business of Ayala booked P1.2 billion in net income during the first nine months of 2016. The amount settled 28% below the year-ago level on the absence of capital gains from the partial sale of its stake in North Luzon Renewables.
Double-digit increases in the contribution of its banking, property and industrial technology businesses nevertheless allowed Ayala to register an 11% year-on-year increase in attributable net income to P19.6 billion during the period.
Shares in the country’s oldest conglomerate closed P3 or 0.38% higher at P796.00 apiece on Wednesday, surviving a downtrend triggered by some investors taking profits from the past six sessions’ rally.