Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥) yesterday announced that it would participate in a fundraising scheme proposed by its Italian energy storage subsidiary, NHOA SA, as the conglomerate continues to invest in energy storage and vehicle charging businesses in addition to its core cement operations.
Taiwan Cement acquired NHOA in July 2021. The energy storage subsidiary has grown its business substantially over the past two years.
NHOA has so far secured orders worth 450 million euros (US$493.2 million) and has 1.4 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy storage under construction on four continents, the company said in a news release on Monday.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Cement Corp
In addition, Atlante, a subsidiary of NHOA responsible for deploying fast-charging networks for electric vehicles, had as of the first quarter put 1,000 charging stations online, with another 1,600 stations under construction or waiting to be connected to the grid in Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, it said.
NHOA, 65.15 percent owned by Taiwan Cement Europe Holdings BV, plans to issue five-year, 250 million euro green convertible bonds, with the proceeds to go toward expanding the firm’s global energy storage business and accelerating the rollout of Atlante fast-charging stations over the next two years, the company said.
That includes 50 million to 100 million euros for the continued expansion of NHOA’s energy storage business across four continents and 150 million to 200 million euros for the wider deployment of Atlante charging stations across southern Europe, it said.
Taiwan Cement said in a regulatory filing that it would participate in the subsidiary’s fundraising through TCC International Holdings Ltd (TCCIH, 台泥國際集團) or via TCCIH’s subsidiary.
Taiwan Cement’s consolidated revenue reached NT$26.36 billion (US$856.34 million) in the first quarter of this year, up 14.89 percent from NT$22.95 billion a year earlier.
The firm has gradually expanded its energy business over the past few years, with the proportion of revenue from cement dropping from 84 percent in 2021 to 68 percent last year, while the revenue contribution from its non-cement business increased from 13 percent to 29 percent over the period, Taiwan Cement data showed.
Its other non-cement businesses include Molie Quantum Energy Corp (三元能源科技), an advanced lithium battery maker, Ho-Ping Power Co (和平電廠) and several green energy projects in Taiwan and abroad.
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