CITICORE Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC) has secured a P9-billion loan — part of planned borrowings of up to P20-billion — from Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) for the construction of multiple solar power plants.

"RCBC's support will assist us to fulfill our 1GW (gigawatt) target for this year. We thank RCBC for their trust in us and we will endeavor to meet our goals with excellence," CREC President and CEO Oliver Tan said.

CREC said the loan structure was a first-of-its-kind financing scheme that will cover various project portfolios instead of the typical per-project structure.

The initial tranche of P9 billion will be allocated for the development of solar plants in Batangas, Pampanga, and Negros Occidental.

Proceeds of succeeding tranches will be used for the completion of additional solar power projects or additional generating capacity from CREC's pipeline of projects in various phases of development.

The scheduled commercial operation for the first and second phases of the Negros Occidental project will be between September 2024 and 2025.

The first and second phases of the Batangas and Pampanga projects, meanwhile, are expected to be operational between December 2024 and 2025.