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 the acquisition of land for its renewable energy portfolio.
($1 = 54.50 Philippine pesos) (Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales)