First Gen tapping $500-million loan

Manila Bulletin 
By Myrna M. Velasco 
Published: May 9, 2013 
Lopez-owned First Gen Corporation will be tapping $500-million loan, in increments, primarily to bankroll the construction of its planned 400-megawatt gas-fired power facility which is targeted on stream by 2016.
The company indicated that it may start exploring options at the capital markets around third quarter this year, to jumpstart pre-development activities for the project.
According to First Gen chief finance officer Emmanuel P. Singson, the cash raising activity will build up as the facility construction progresses, which will likely be next year.
The 400-megawatt facility will comprise the second phase of the planned three-phased expansion for the First Gas plants. 
The first phase will be the 100-megawatt First Gas Avion facility, which will run on aero-derivative fuel and designed as a simple cycle peaking facility. This is targeted on stream next year, First Gen president Francis Giles B. Puno has told reporters in a briefing at the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting.
He said the plant’s capacity will be traded either via the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) or will be offered to Manila Electric Company (Meralco) which earlier sounded off needs for a peaking capacity.
The third phase will be another 400MW and is eyed to beef up the company’s gas-fed power generation portfolio by 2018. Purposively, it will be lined up to augment the power supply needs of the Luzon grid during the next critical phase of 2017 and onwards.
Puno noted that the year 2014 will be the next exciting phase of investments for the company – both for the gas-fed facilities and the run-of-river hydro projects that may add up 63MW to its burgeoning assets.
Throughout this year, the company is anticipating flat growth on revenues and profitability with most of the “surprise growth drivers” already happening in 2012.
The next up-tick in the company’s performance will be next year, to be supplemented by subsidiary Energy Development Corporation. Revenue growth will be propelled by three factors, namely: the declaration of full commercial operations of the Bacon-Manito geothermal plant; the operation of the transferred Northern Negros geothermal facility; and the expected commissioning of its 87-megawatt Burgos wind power project latter part of 2014.
The firm’s ancillary services earnings are also seen declining this year, but Puno intimated that this can be offset by prospects from gas which will now have full impact on their bottom-line following acquisition of their previous partner’s equity.  source