By Myrna M. Velasco

The energy investment arm of the Ayala group has cemented its second partnership for two new greenfield solar farm projects in Vietnam for a total installation of 80 megawatts.

In a statement to the media on Sunday, AC Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ayala Corporation, indicated that it will be developing two solar ventures in Khanh Hoa and Dak Lak sites – this time in partnership with AMI Renewables Energy Joint Stock Co.

The project funding of US$83 million will be infused via debt and equity combination – with AC Energy noting that it will “participate with at least 50-percent economic share.”

The loan component shall be funneled by Indovina Bank of Vietnam and the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) of the Philippines – cast on a non-recourse financing basis.

The company emphasized that they already signed the requisite engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract and financing documents relative to the projects.

The Ayala firm said the solar farm developments are targeted to be commercially on-line around June 2019, in time for the feed-in-tariff race deadline set by the Vietnamese government.

AC Energy President and CEO Eric T. Francia primarily cited the “strong commitment of Vietnam government to promote renewables and the strong support from our banking partners that are providing project finance” as the major enticements for them to invest in that market.

The Ayala group has been eyeing to beef up its solar development portfolio in Vietnam, the first tranche of that had been its tie-up with the BIM Group for a target of 300MW capacity.

Aside from solar opportunities, the company is also working on the proposed Quang Binh wind power plant project for a prospective capacity of 352MW.