Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation (CREC), a renewable energy platform based in the Philippines, has secured a financing arrangement with Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) to fund multiple solar power plant projects with a combined installed generating capacity of at least 600 megawatts and up to approximately 1 gigawatt of solar energy capacity.

The financing deal, arranged by RCBC Capital Corporation, is slated to reach up to 20 billion pesos (US$364 million), starting with the signing of an initial tranche of 9 billion pesos. The structure is believed to be the first-of-its-kind project financing in the Philippines, which covers various project portfolios instead of the typical per-project financing structure.

The proceeds of the initial funding tranche will be applied towards CREC’s development of solar power plant projects in the provinces of Batangas, Pampanga, and Negros Occidental.  The proceeds of subsequent tranches will be used to complete additional solar power projects or additional generating capacity from CREC’s pipeline of projects in various stages of development.

“RCBC’s support will assist us to fulfil our 1GW target for this year,” says CREC president and chief executive officer Oliver Tan. “We thank RCBC for their trust in us and we will endeavour to meet our goals with excellence.”

The solar power plant projects in Batangas, Pampanga and Negros Occidental are integral to CREC’s target of contributing 1GW of ready-to-build/under construction solar energy capacity per year over the next five years.

The expected commercial operation dates for the first and second phases of the Negros Occidental project are in September 2024 and 2025, respectively. The first and second phases of each of the Batangas and Pampanga projects are expected to start commercial operation in December 2024 and 2025, respectively.