By Neil Jerome Morales
MANILA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Citicore Renewable Energy
Corp, one of the Philippines' biggest solar power producers, is
planning to go public this year to fund a $4 billion investment
in new solar projects over the next five years, its CEO said on
Friday.
"For a country such as ours with limited oil and coal but
have abundant sun, wind and water, it is imperative we deploy
capital investment into renewable energy," Citicore President
and CEO Oliver Tan told reporters.
Citicore will file documents for an initial public offering
in the second quarter and complete its listing within the year,
Tan said, adding it will be large enough to attract foreign
investors for an international tranche.
Fresh capital from the listing will allow Citicore, which
has an installed capacity of 241 megawatts via solar panels, to
invest $800 million this year to increase output to 1 gigawatt
(GW), and around $4 billion to reach 5 GW within five years, Tan
said.
The Philippines, an archipelagic country among the most
vulnerable to climate change, aims to increase renewables in its
power mix to 35% by 2030, from 21% in 2020, and to 50% by 2040.
Coal accounted for nearly 60% in 2020.
Citicore is also pursuing seven offshore wind projects with
a total capacity of 3 GW.
Citicore is the parent firm of Citicore Energy REIT Corp and is a sister company of Megawide Construction Corp .
Citicore REIT on Friday listed its maiden ASEAN Green Bond
in the Philippines' fixed income trading platform. It raised 4.5
billion pesos ($82.6 million) from its bond sale to fund
acquisition of land for its renewable energy portfolio.
($1 = 54.50 Philippine pesos)
(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales)
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