MANILA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has invested 20 million U.S. dollars in AC Energy's maiden climate bond issuance, the Manila-based bank said on Monday.
"This landmark public listing will be the first Climate Bond Initiative (CBI) certified U.S. dollar climate bonds in Southeast Asia listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange," the bank said in a statement.
ADB is an anchor investor in the 10-year tranche, contributing to a total issue volume of 410 million U.S. dollars. Proceeds of the bonds will finance renewable energy projects in the Asia and Pacific region, including Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
This climate bond will be used to support AC Energy's plans to establish and expand a regional presence in the development of clean energy projects in accordance with environmental best practice, according to the bank.
Michael Barrow, director general of ADB's Private Sector Operations Department, said this climate bond "will help the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet its target of drawing 23 percent of the region's energy mix from modern, clean, and sustainable renewable sources by 2025."
AC Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ayala Corporation in the Philippines, has over 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of attributable capacity as of the end of 2018. The climate bond proceeds will contribute towards AC Energy's target of 5 GW of attributable renewable energy capacity by 2025 across the region.
In 2018, AC Energy generated 2,800 GW hours of attributable energy, 48 percent of which was drawn from renewable sources.
This is ADB's third climate bond project and its first publicly listed climate bond.
In December 2018, ADB invested 5 billion Thai baht (about 159 million U.S. dollars) in B.Grimm Power Public Company Limited's maiden 5-year and 7-year climate bonds - the country's first certified climate bond.
In 2016, ADB also extended a guarantee to support an issuance for the Tiwi and Makban geothermal power projects in the Philippines - the first climate bond in Asia.
This investment is in line with ADB's new Strategy 2030, which mandates that at least 75 percent of the number of ADB's committed operations support climate change mitigation and adaptation by 2030, with climate finance from its own resources reaching 80 billion U.S. dollars over 2019 to 2030.
