Citicore partners with Singapore’s Levanta for wind projects

Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC) of tycoon Edgar Saavedra doubling down on its push into the wind segments as it partners with a Singaporean firm backed by UK infrastructure investor Actis.

CREC, through its subsidiary Citicore Wind Energy Corp., signed up for a joint venture with Levanta Renewables, which is focused on Southeast Asian markets.

In a filing Monday, CREC said an agreement signed last Oct. 18 covers the development, financing, and operations of the group’s four onshore wind projects in Luzon and Visayas.

However, it has yet to disclose details on the value of the partnership, as well as the percentage ownership in the planned joint venture.

CREC bagged wind development projects through the Department of Energy’s Green Energy Auction Program in July 2023. These projects have a total power-generating capacity of 375 megawatts (MW).

With Levanta onboard, CREC president Oliver Tan expressed bullishness about realizing these projects.

“We are entering the next phase of CREC’s journey to power a brighter future for the Philippines with the start of our first four onshore wind projects, and there is no better partner to take this step with than Levanta,” Tan said. “They bring decades of extensive technical and operational experience to this partnership and our onshore wind industry.”

Meanwhile, Levanta chief executive Sudhir Nunes said the partnership with CREC marks their expansion into the Philippine market, which could boost them closer to their target of hitting 1,500 MW of operating capacity across Southeast Asia by 2028.

“We intend to leverage our partnership with CREC to pursue more utility-scale renewable energy projects in the Philippines,” the CEO said.

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CREC expects the partnership to be finalized “in the next few months,” depending on “certain customary conditions.”

The Philippine company targets to expand its renewables portfolio to 5,000 MW in five years.

Currently, its installed capacity is at 285 MW from its 10 solar power facilities.

Last month, the government tagged 13 CREC green power projects in the pipeline as being of national significance, a status that can help the group speed up the permitting processes.