IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has signed a loan agreement with SN Aboitiz Power-Benguet, Inc., known as SNAPB, to help rehabilitate two hydroelectric plants. This will boost electricity output in the Benguet province of Luzon, Philippines, and catalyze economic development.
IFC’s $100 million’s loan will enable SNAPB to install new turbines and generators at the Ambuklao and Binga hydro facilities. Ambuklao’s three 25-megawatt generating units have not been functioning since 2000, and Binga’s four 25-megawatt generators operate as a base-load plant when the water level is high and as a peaking plant when the level is low.
SNAPB is a joint venture between Aboitiz Power Corporation and SN Power Invest AS of Norway, a global renewable energy company. The Ambuklao and Binga plants are part of the privatization program under the Philippines’ Electric Power Industry Reform Act. The transaction is IFC’s second loan to the Aboitiz Power Corporation-SN Power Invest consortium, as the same sponsors won the bid for the 360-megawatt Magat hydro project in 2007 through SN Aboitiz Power-Magat, Inc.
“The Ambuklao-Binga acquisition is another building block of our strategic vision of positioning Aboitiz Power as the country’s leading provider of energy from renewable sources. We will continue prioritizing investments in renewables and pursuing our vision of making Cleanergy available to every Filipino,” said Erramon Aboitiz, President and CEO of Aboitiz Power. Cleanergy is the Aboitiz brand of energy sourced from clean and renewable sources.
“The transaction aligns with IFC’s strategy to support the implementation of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act through key milestone projects. It also fits within the World Bank Group’s climate change strategy, which calls for increased investments in renewable energy. We are pleased to work again with SNAPB, which shares IFC’s vision for sustainability,” said Jesse Ang, IFC’s Resident Representative for the Philippines.
SNAPB is also looking into obtaining carbon credits for the plants under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism scheme, and IFC has expressed its full support of the effort.
