Pentagreen Capital, a manager of blended finance strategies under Singapore’s Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership (FAST-P) initiative, has backed Citicore Solar Energy Corporation, part of Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation, with a USD 55 million development and construction loan to catalyse new solar and battery storage projects across the Philippines.
Marat Zapparov, CEO of Pentagreen Capital, commented, “We are honoured to extend our long-standing partnership with Citicore as the company surpasses its goal of completing 1GW of renewable capacity annually in the Philippines. With support from partners in Singapore’s FAST-P initiative, Pentagreen is committed to accelerating the region’s clean energy transition.”
Scope and Impact of the Loan
The financing will unlock the implementation of up to 2 GW of generation capacity and up to 760 MWh of battery storage.
Notably, the projects will include the Philippines’ first baseload solar plant capable of storing and dispatching energy beyond daylight hours, aiming to provide stable 24/7 renewable electricity to customers.
The loan will initially fund the construction and development of 610 MWp across eight solar facilities in the provinces of Pangasinan, Pampanga, Batangas, and Negros Occidental. Three Batangas projects will also deploy battery energy storage systems (BESS).
Collectively, the eight new solar projects are forecast to deliver 914 GWh of renewable electricity to the grid per year. This will be enough to power approximately 240,000 Filipino homes and avoid 630,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually.
Oliver Tan, CEO of Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation, added, “Pentagreen trusted our ability to scale towards ambitious renewable energy goals. With our first 1 GW nearly complete and plans for another underway, their confidence helps us to expand clean, affordable electricity access across the country.”
AgroSolar Initiative and Community Development
In addition to clean power generation, the projects will feature Citicore’s AgroSolar Initiative. This program maintains the agricultural integrity of project sites by cultivating high-value crops beneath and around solar panels, improving the livelihoods of local farmers through diversified income streams.
The partnership builds on earlier cooperation, including a previous USD 100 million green loan from Pentagreen in 2023 for Citicore’s large-scale solar rollout in Luzon.
