RENEWABLE ENERGY developer Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC) is expecting a higher capital expenditure (capex) budget for this year as it works towards its five-gigawatt (GW) project roadmap, its president said.
“Most likely higher,” CREC President and Chief Executive Officer Oliver Y. Tan told reporters last week when asked about this year’s capex.
For 2024, CREC allotted a capex of around P35 billion, primarily for renewable energy projects.
Mr. Tan said the company is working on the first GW worth of energy projects targeted to come online this year, which are mostly under the government’s second green energy auction held in 2023.
“We have four solar projects in Tuy, Batangas, one in Arayat, two in Pangasinan, and two in Pagbilao that will come online within the year,” Mr. Tan said.
The company is targeting to energize projects with a capacity of 200 megawatts (MW) by April and 800 MW by August, he said.
With the development, CREC sees ending the year with almost 1.2 GW of capacity, contributing to its goal of reaching 5 GW of capacity by 2028.
“We’re rolling out the second GW pipeline this year,” Mr. Tan said.
Meanwhile, CREC said in a regulatory filing on Monday that the company and Indonesian state-owned PT Pertamina Power Indonesia (Pertamina NRE) are targeting to implement their P6.7-billion investment deal by the first quarter of 2025.
“The subscription is targeted to be implemented by the 1st quarter of 2025,” CREC said.
Earlier this year, CREC announced that its board of directors approved Pertamina NRE’s subscription to a 20% interest or 2.23 billion common shares of CREC, at P3 per share, raising an estimated value of P6.7 billion.
The partnership marks Pertamina NRE’s first investment in the Philippines, according to CREC.
Proceeds from the deal will contribute to the development of CREC’s pipeline of renewable energy projects nationwide in line with its energy goal.
CREC, directly and through its subsidiaries and joint ventures, manages a diversified portfolio of renewable energy generation projects, power project development operations, and retail electricity supply services.
At present, the company has a combined gross installed capacity of 285 MW from its solar facilities in the Philippines.
On Monday, shares in the company fell 2% to close at P3.43 apiece. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
