Bugallon Green gets P826-M loan for Pangasinan solar plant

YUCHENGCO-LED Bugallon Green Energy Corp. has secured a P826-million loan from Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) to fund the construction of its 25-megawatt (MW) solar power project in Bugallon, Pangasinan.

In a statement on Monday, Bugallon said it had signed an omnibus loan and security arrangement with RCBC to support the development of the Bugallon Solar Power Project, which is slated for completion within the year.

Once operational, the facility is expected to generate about 36 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity annually — enough to supply power to more than 15,000 households — and offset about 25,000 metric tons of carbon emissions each year.

Bugallon is a unit of Rizal Green Energy Corp., a joint venture between Japan’s Taisei Corp. and PetroGreen Energy Corp., which is part of the Yuchengco Group of Companies.

“This financing milestone reflects our unwavering commitment to increase the country’s power supply from indigenous energy sources,” PetroGreen President and Chief Executive Officer Francisco G. Delfin, Jr. said in the statement.

RCBC Executive Vice-President and Head of Institutional Banking Group Elizabeth E. Coronel said the loan was undertaken under the bank’s sustainable finance framework, reinforcing its role in promoting climate-resilient and environmentally responsible investments.

The Bugallon Solar Power Project forms part of Rizal Green Energy’s pipeline of four utility-scale, ground-mounted solar projects with a combined capacity of 111.58 MW. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera