PT Pertamina Power Indonesia ( Pertamina New & Renewable Energy or Pertamina NRE ), a subsidiary of state-owned enterprise Pertamina, has made its first foray into the Philippine renewable energy sector, with a 6.69 billion peso ( US$115 million ) investment in Philippine pure-play renewable energy company Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation ( CREC ).

In a statement, Citicore says Pertamina NRE will subscribe to some 2.23 billion CREC shares for 3 pesos per share under a landmark share subscription agreement. After the deal is finalized, Pertamina NRE will own 20% of CREC. AlphaPrimus served as the financial adviser to CREC for this transaction.

“The partnership with Pertamina NRE presents limitless opportunities for Indonesia and the Philippines to collaborate on innovative technologies and practices in renewable energy,” says CREC president and chief executive officer Oliver Tan. 

Tan adds that it gives CREC a “wider stage” to showcase its unique end-to-end capabilities “by opening doors in Indonesia even as we drive our developments in the Philippines at full speed”.

Pertamina NRE’s entry comes after the Philippines has been ranked second most attractive emerging market for renewable energy investment by BloombergNEF in 2024, behind only India.

The Philippines has created a buzz in the RE space after foreign nationals and foreign-owned entities were allowed to explore, develop and use RE resources such as solar, wind, biomass, ocean or tidal energy. In the past five years, there have been some US$5.2 billion in investments in the country’s RE sector, though only 7% have come from foreign investors, according to a 2024 report from Climatescope.

The Pertamina-NRE deal will likely bump up that number.  

Under the deal, Pertamina NRE will gain access to CREC’s unique expertise in project development, and engineering, procurement and construction, or EPC. Conversely, CREC will have the opportunity to partner with Pertamina NRE to develop renewable energy projects in Indonesia, allowing for the company’s potential expansion in the region. 

In the same statement announcing the partnership, CREC says proceeds from the agreement will contribute to the development of its pipeline of renewable energy projects nationwide, pushing the company closer to its goal of contributing at least 1 gigawatt ( GW ) of green energy capacity annually in five years.