AC Energy enters joint venture for wind farm projects

AC Energy Holdings, Inc. (ACEHI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ayala Corporation, signed an Investment Framework Agreement and Shareholders’ Agreement with UPC Philippines Wind Holdco I B.V., a wholly owned company of UPC Renewables Partners (UPC) and the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure (PINAI) fund, comprised of the Government Service Insurance System, APG and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte. Limited, to develop wind power projects in Ilocos Norte through Northern Luzon UPC Asia Corporation (NLUPC) as their joint venture company. An initial equity investment has been agreed for the first 81MW project with an investment value of approximately US$220 million with ACEHI funding 64% of equity, PINAI 32% and UPC 4%.

The 81MW project received a declaration of commerciality on June 17, 2013 from the Department of Energy. Accordingly, NLUPC has signed the Turbine Supply, Installation and Service Availability Agreements with Siemens Wind Power A/S and Siemens Inc. and has issued the Notice to Proceed. The project’s initial phase is expected to be connected to the grid by June 2014. The joint venture company has a portfolio of additional wind energy projects of over 200MW under development.

The project will grow ACEHI’s wind farm portfolio in the Philippines, building on its current 50% ownership of NorthWind Power Development Corporation which already operates a 33 MW wind farm in Bangui, Ilocos Norte. Over the past two years, ACEHI has established a robust pipeline of power assets and has committed over US$300 million of equity in conventional and renewable energy technologies.

UPC has nearly 20 years of experience in developing, financing, constructing, owning and operating wind farms in Europe, USA and Asia with gross generating capacities of approximately 2,000MW.  UPC continues to have a significant wind project development pipeline globally.

PINAI is a Php26 billion fund dedicated to equity investment in Philippine infrastructure assets. PINAI is managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA), part of Macquarie Group. MIRA manages more than US$100 billion worth of infrastructure assets globally, including more than 16.7GW of power generation assets. PINAI’s investors include the Government Service Insurance System, Dutch pension fund asset manager APG, the Asian Development Bank and Macquarie Group.

Siemens is a leading supplier of wind power solutions for onshore, offshore and coastal sites and has installed over 12,700 wind turbines globally which equals to over 21,100MW installed capacity as of July 2013. Wind Power is part of Siemens’ Environmental Portfolio. In fiscal 2012, revenue from the Environmental Portfolio totaled about €33 billion, making Siemens one of the world’s largest suppliers of eco-friendly technologies. Siemens Wind Power Asia Pacific Region is headquartered in Shanghai, China.

The above statement pertains to the disclosure submitted to the SEC, PSE, and PDex on July 12, 2013, by Ayala CFO Delfin C. Gonzalez Jr.