Pentagreen Capital, the manager of a blended finance strategy under Singapore’s Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership (Fast-P) initiative, has announced a US$55 million ($71.47 million) loan with Citicore Solar Energy Corporation to finance solar, hybrid solar and battery storage projects in the Philippines.
Citicore Solar Energy Corporation is part of the Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation.
According to an Oct 23 announcement, the US$55 million Development and Construction Loan will finance up to 2 gigawatts (GW) of generation capacity and up to 760 megawatt-hours (MWh) of battery storage capacity in the Philippines.
The projects include the first baseload solar plant in the Philippines capable of storing and dispatching energy beyond normal solar hours, providing 24/7 baseload renewable power to its customers.
The loan will initially support the construction and development of 610 megawatt-peak (MWp) of energy across eight solar facilities located in the provinces of Pangasinan, Pampanga, Batangas and Negros Occidental.
Three of the facilities in Batangas will also be host to battery energy storage systems (BESS) with a capacity of up to 760MWh, enhancing grid stability.
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The eight solar projects will add a combined 914 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of pure renewable energy supply to the grid annually, resulting in an estimated 630,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions avoided, which generates enough electricity to power approximately 240,000 Filipino homes yearly.
According to Citicore, the projects will also be host to Citicore’s AgroSolar Initiative, maintaining the agricultural intent of solar land by growing various high-value crops underneath and in-between panels, while helping local farmers through income augmentation.
Marat Zapparov, CEO of Pentagreen Capital, says: “We are honoured to extend our long-standing partnership with Citicore as the company surpasses its goal of completing 1GW of renewable capacity annually in the Philippines. Pentagreen Capital, with support of our partners in connection with Singapore’s Fast-P initiative, stands ready to support Citicore and its innovative approach to accelerating the region’s transition towards stable and reliable renewable energy sources.”
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Oliver Tan, CEO of Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation, says: “In 2023, Pentagreen trusted our ability to scale towards our ambitious renewable energy goals. With our first 1 gigawatt nearing completion and preparation for our next gigawatt, Pentagreen remains an integral partner to Citicore. Their continued vote of confidence and support to our undertakings through this agreement will help us further accelerate our renewable energy developments.”
Pentagreen Capital, the sustainable infrastructure debt financing platform established by HSBC and Temasek, serves as the fund manager for the Green Investments Partnership (GIP), a blended finance partnership under Singapore’s Fast-P initiative.
In September, GIP achieved its first close with US$510 million of committed capital from global and regional private, public and philanthropic institutions.
According to a Sept 8 announcement, the capital will be deployed into green and sustainable infrastructure opportunities in Southeast and South Asia across a “strong pipeline” of transactions.
In November 2024, Pentagreen Capital announced that GIP is seeking to deploy US$1 billion for Asia’s sustainable infrastructure. In December 2024, the Australian government approved a US$50 million investment into GIP, its first investment under the A$2 billion ($1.75 billion) Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility (SEAIFF).
The Singapore government launched Fast-P at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai in December 2023, with an aim to raise up to US$5 billion from public, private and philanthropic capital sources to support Asia’s decarbonisation and climate resilience.
GIP is the first fund under the Fast-P initiative to achieve a close.
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Read more about Pentagreen Capital and the Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership (Fast-P):
Fast-P’s Green Investments Partnership achieves first close with US$510 mil from MAS, Temasek, IFC (September)
S’pore’s blended finance initiative Fast-P to set up office, management team (May)
Australia approves US$50 mil investment into Singapore’s Fast-P blended finance initiative (December 2024)
Temasek-backed Pentagreen to manage Fast-P’s Green Investments partnership, seeking to deploy US$1 bil (November 2024)
BlackRock, MAS spearhead collaboration on blended finance debt initiative (November 2024)
Clifford Capital and Pentagreen Capital announce US$30 mil green loan collaboration with BECIS (July 2024)
Singapore announces Asia-focused blended finance initiative Fast-P with US$5 bil target fund size (December 2023)
Temasek and HSBC establishes sustainable infrastructure debt financing company; commits a combined US$150 mil of equity (August 2022)
