MANILA, Philippines — Alternergy Holdings Corp. is preparing to raise ₱2 billion from the Philippine debt market for the first time, giving the renewable-energy developer fresh financing for a new generation of solar, wind and battery projects after years of relying largely on bank loans, equity and project-level financing.
Alternergy’s board approved the issuance of ₱2 billion in green fixed-rate corporate notes, marking the listed renewable-energy company’s maiden entry into the domestic debt capital market.
The notes will carry an annual interest rate of 7.75%, with interest paid quarterly, and mature after 1.5 years. The entire principal is scheduled to be repaid upon maturity rather than gradually amortized during the life of the notes.
But this is not an ordinary bond offering aimed at individual investors.
The securities will be offered to Qualified Institutional Buyers, or QIBs, and are expected to be listed on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp., or PDEx. BDO Capital & Investment Corp. has been appointed sole issue manager and arranger.
For Alternergy, however, the ₱2-billion transaction is only the financing story.
The bigger bet is what it intends to build with the money.
The money is aimed at Alternergy’s next wave of projects
Alternergy says proceeds will primarily finance pre-development requirements for renewable-energy projects awarded under the Department of Energy’s fourth Green Energy Auction, or GEA-4, along with other projects in its development pipeline.
The company may also use part of the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including the full repayment of existing loans.
Its GEA-4 portfolio consists of five awarded projects grouped under four project names:
Liberty Floating Solar Phases A and B in Tarlac, Kalandagan Solar with battery energy storage in Sultan Kudarat, Alegria Wind in Cebu and Tayabas North Wind in Quezon.
Together, Alternergy says those five auction awards represent roughly 500 MW of new renewable capacity.
That distinction matters because some reports put Alternergy’s wider development pipeline at approximately 762 MW.
The two numbers are not contradictory.
The roughly 500 MW refers specifically to the five GEA-4 projects, while the larger 762-MW figure includes those projects plus other renewable developments in Alternergy’s broader pipeline.
The company has an investment-grade rating
Philippine Rating Services Corp., or PhilRatings, assigned the proposed notes a PRS Aa minus rating with a Stable Outlook.
PhilRatings describes obligations in the Aa category as high quality and subject to very low credit risk, with the issuer demonstrating a very strong capacity to meet its financial commitments. The minus sign indicates where the securities sit within the broader Aa category.
But investment grade does not mean risk-free.
Alternergy remains in a capital-intensive industry where large projects can be affected by permitting delays, transmission availability, construction costs, financing conditions and weather.
PhilRatings itself noted that Alternergy’s consolidated debt-to-equity ratio rose from 0.6 times at the end of 2021 to 3.0 times at fiscal year-end 2025, before increasing further to around 4.1 times by the end of March 2026 as the company borrowed to finance major projects.
That makes the new debt raise a balancing act.
Alternergy needs capital to build assets that should eventually generate more electricity and revenue.
But every new debt instrument also adds another obligation that must eventually be serviced and repaid.
This isn’t Alternergy’s first ₱2-billion green financing
There is another important distinction behind the company’s claim that this is its maiden debt-capital-market transaction.
Alternergy has borrowed substantial green financing before.
In May 2024, it secured a ₱2-billion Green Corporate Loan from BDO Unibank, with BDO Capital acting as mandated lead arranger. That financing supported projects including Tanay Wind, Alabat Wind, Balsik Solar and the Dupinga and Kiangan run-of-river hydro developments.
So the new ₱2-billion notes are not Alternergy’s first green debt.
They are its first issuance in the Philippine debt capital markets.
That is a different milestone.
A bank loan involves borrowing primarily from a lender or group of lenders.
Issuing corporate notes broadens the funding base by placing securities with institutional investors.
For a renewable developer with several projects needing capital at the same time, having access to both channels can become increasingly valuable.
Alternergy is moving from project builder to power producer
The financing also arrives during a major transition for the company.
For years, much of Alternergy’s valuation story depended on projects that were still being developed or constructed.
More of those projects are now beginning to produce electricity.
The company currently reports about 119 MW of operating capacity across the Philippines and Palau. It expects that figure to climb to approximately 311 MW by the end of 2026 as its two major wind farms move toward full commercial operation.
The largest is the 128-MW Tanay Wind Project in Rizal.
Alternergy said Tanay began delivering its first electricity to the Luzon grid in July, making it the first wind project awarded under GEA-2 to begin generating power.
The project uses 8-MW turbines and, once fully operational, is expected by Alternergy to generate approximately 283.5 GWh of renewable electricity annually. The company’s estimates put that output at enough electricity for roughly 118,000 households while avoiding about 197,780 metric tons of carbon emissions a year.
Those are company projections, not guaranteed annual production figures, because actual wind generation varies according to weather and plant availability.
Alabat is another 64 MW waiting to join the portfolio
Alongside Tanay is Alternergy’s 64-MW Alabat Wind Project in Quezon.
The two wind farms together represent 192 MW of capacity.
Alternergy remains the 60% majority owner of both project companies after A Brown Co.’s energy subsidiary completed a roughly ₱2.3-billion investment for 40% stakes in the two developments this year.
That partnership illustrates another part of Alternergy’s financing strategy.
Rather than funding every project entirely from its own balance sheet, the company can bring in equity partners, recycle capital and use the proceeds to develop the next batch of projects.
The ₱2-billion green-note issue adds another financing tool to that model.
Solar is already adding revenue
Alternergy also brought its 28-MWp Balsik Solar Power Plant in Hermosa, Bataan into commercial operation earlier this year.
The facility contains about 45,600 bifacial solar modules across roughly 30 hectares and is expected to produce around 45,000 MWh annually, according to the company.
Balsik is part of what Alternergy calls its “Triple Play” strategy, combining solar, wind and run-of-river hydro assets.
The idea is diversification.
Solar production is strongest during daylight hours.
Wind generation depends on seasonal and local wind conditions.
Run-of-river hydro depends on water flows.
Combining several technologies can provide more diversified sources of electricity and revenue than depending on only one resource type.
It does not eliminate renewable intermittency, but it reduces the company’s reliance on a single generation technology.
The next 500 MW stretches across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao
What makes the new green notes especially significant is the geographic scale of the projects behind them.
Alternergy’s five GEA-4 awards extend across all three major Philippine island groups.
In Tarlac, Liberty Solar involves two floating-solar phases awarded at 34 MW each, according to DOE auction data.
In Sultan Kudarat, the Kalandagan project won a GEA-4 award for 54 MW under the auction’s integrated renewable-energy-and-storage category.
The project is designed to combine solar generation with battery energy storage, allowing some electricity to be stored rather than immediately injected into the grid.
In Quezon, Tayabas North Wind Phase 1 secured an awarded capacity of 96 MW.
In Cebu, Alegria Wind secured 56 MW under the auction.
Alternergy has said that the full project configurations and potential capacities extend beyond some of those auctioned delivery commitments, bringing the overall group of GEA-4 developments to roughly 500 MW.
That is why auction capacity, installed project capacity and potential development capacity should not automatically be treated as interchangeable numbers.
The government auction gives developers something lenders want
The Green Energy Auction Program has become one of the Philippine government’s central mechanisms for contracting new renewable electricity.
Winning projects obtain long-term arrangements tied to auctioned renewable-energy prices, subject to compliance with their required delivery schedules and other rules.
For project developers, that can improve bankability.
A renewable plant with a defined pathway for selling its electricity can be easier to finance than a project that must rely entirely on uncertain future spot-market prices.
But winning an auction is only the start.
Developers must still secure land rights, permits, grid connections, equipment, financing and construction contracts—and eventually deliver electricity by the required date.
That is precisely where Alternergy says the new note proceeds will be used.
All five GEA-4 projects have already cleared an important milestone
Earlier this year, the DOE issued Certificates of Approval covering Alternergy’s five GEA-4 projects.
The company described the approvals as confirmation that the projects had completed the auction’s post-award requirements and could move toward full-scale development.
Grid access has also advanced.
NGCP previously cleared system-impact studies for roughly 500 MW of Alternergy projects, including Liberty, Kalandagan, Tayabas North and Alegria, according to reporting on the company’s development program.
That does not mean the power plants are already built.
System-impact approval determines how proposed generation could interact with the transmission network.
Construction, interconnection facilities and final energization still have to follow.
Most of the GEA-4 projects are targeting delivery around 2028.
That means today’s ₱2-billion financing is effectively being deployed years before most of the underlying projects begin generating commercial electricity.
This is why pre-development capital matters
Renewable projects consume significant amounts of money long before the first kilowatt-hour is sold.
Developers need to pay for engineering.
Environmental work.
Land and site studies.
Permitting.
Grid assessments.
Legal work.
Financial advisers.
Early procurement.
And other development expenses.
Some projects will later obtain dedicated project loans covering the bulk of construction.
But before lenders are willing to commit billions of pesos to construction, the developer itself often needs enough capital to move the project to a bankable stage.
Alternergy’s short 1.5-year notes are intended partly to provide that financial bridge.
The company is essentially borrowing now to advance projects toward the point where larger and longer-term project financing can potentially take over.
Alternergy has been building a much larger financing machine
The company already has experience arranging large project-level loans.
It previously mandated BPI Capital, RCBC Capital and SB Capital to arrange up to ₱12 billion in financing for its Tanay and Alabat wind developments.
RCBC later provided separate financing including a ₱5.335-billion facility for Alabat Wind and more than ₱1 billion for the Balsik solar project.
Alternergy has also raised money through strategic equity partnerships, preferred shares and green loans.
The new notes add institutional debt investors to that mix.
That diversification is increasingly important because Alternergy’s ambitions are expanding faster than any single financing source could comfortably support.
The target is one green gigawatt by 2030
Alternergy has said it wants to reach 1 gigawatt of renewable-energy capacity by 2030.
Its near-term operating target is approximately 311 MW by the end of 2026, assuming Tanay and Alabat enter full commercial operation as planned.
Behind those projects are the GEA-4 developments scheduled for the next phase.
The leap from roughly 311 MW to 1,000 MW is substantial.
It cannot be financed with one ₱2-billion transaction.
That is what makes this issuance important.
The amount itself is modest compared with the capital required to build hundreds of megawatts of wind, solar and storage.
But completing a successful first institutional note transaction could make repeated access to the debt market easier later.
In other words, Alternergy is not just raising ₱2 billion.
It is trying to build another financing channel.
There is still execution risk behind the green label
Renewable-energy projects can qualify as green investments while still carrying ordinary financial and construction risks.
Alternergy’s own recent experience shows why.
Tanay and Alabat’s commercial-operation schedules were previously moved after permitting challenges delayed their original timelines.
Transmission connections can also become bottlenecks.
Alternergy’s Tanay project required an interim connection to the existing 500-kV San Jose-Tayabas transmission backbone while awaiting NGCP’s planned Baras substation.
For the GEA-4 projects, execution challenges could similarly involve land, local permits, procurement, construction schedules and grid availability.
That does not mean the projects will be delayed.
It means financing is only one of several hurdles that must be cleared before an auction award turns into an operating power plant.
The 7.75% coupon tells another part of the story
The notes will pay institutional investors 7.75% annually.
For Alternergy, that is the cost of gaining financial flexibility without immediately selling additional common equity.
For investors, the coupon compensates them for committing capital to a renewable developer whose next wave of projects remains under development.
The notes’ relatively short 18-month maturity also means Alternergy will have to manage refinancing or repayment relatively quickly compared with the decades-long operating lives of wind and solar assets.
That is why the company’s ability to bring projects into commercial operation, secure longer-term project financing and continue attracting equity partners matters.
The debt may be green.
The repayment obligation is still ordinary cash.
The real test starts after the ₱2 billion arrives
Board approval and an investment-grade rating are important milestones.
But the transaction is ultimately useful only if Alternergy can convert financing into operating assets.
The company already has one major solar project online this year.
Tanay has started sending its first electricity to the grid.
Alabat is moving toward operation.
And five GEA-4 projects representing roughly 500 MW are entering their next development phase.
Alternergy’s first debt-market issuance therefore arrives at a pivotal point.
The company’s earlier growth story was about acquiring sites, winning auctions and raising money.
The next phase will be judged on something harder:
building the plants on time, connecting them to the grid and turning hundreds of megawatts of development plans into recurring electricity revenue.
The ₱2 billion may help finance that transition.
But for a company targeting one green gigawatt by 2030, this first bond-market step could eventually prove far smaller than the capital it still needs to raise.
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