17 Jun 2005
Bidders for the Calaca Power Plant will be submitting their financial offers on June 28, 2005. The bids will be opened at 12 noon at the Audio-Visual Room of the Department of Energy (DOE), the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) announced.
The 600 MW Calaca Power Plant, a coal-fired thermal power plant located in San Rafael, Calaca Batangas, is the first major asset in the government’s bidding line-up for this year.
Qualified bidders have until June 20 to complete their due diligence for the Calaca Plant. PSALM will release the final Transaction Documents on June 21.
Mr. Froilan A. Tampinco, PSALM Vice President for Asset Management and Electricity Market, disclosed that three consortia of foreign and local companies have so far qualified for the bid.
“Having thus far complied with the required documents, we are confident that these three companies will submit their bids on the given deadline. This development clearly shows that the government’s privatization program is indeed moving forward,” Mr. Tampinco said.
In 2004, PSALM successfully bid out six of its generation assets, with proceeds amounting to US$566.95 million or PhP 31.75 billion for the Philippine Government. Three of the six power plants—the Talomo, Barit and Agusan Hydroelectric Power Plants—have been turned over to the winning bidders.
Due to pending creditors’ consent, PSALM has yet to collect the first payment for the 600 MW Masinloc coal power plant, which amounts to $221 million. The said consent of creditors World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is required before the government can transfer ownership of, and eventually close the sale of Masinloc.
Energy Secretary and former PSALM president Raphael P.M. Lotilla is, however, hopeful that the creditors’ consent would be obtained any time soon. A recent comment by ADB strengthened Sec. Lotilla’s confidence in securing the creditors’ consent.
Reacting to reports that NPC’s creditors have refused to consent to the turnover of the Masinloc plant because of the winning bidder’s qualifications, ADB Director for Infrastructure Division of Southeast Asia Department Patrick Giraud said, “We have not taken any position. We don’t agree or disagree at all because it is all the government’s decision and responsibility.”
“As of now, we are happy that the privatization is pushing through, and that is ADB’s concern as creditor to Napocor,” Giraud further added.
Securing creditors’ consent is one of the major hurdles for PSALM in transferring the power plants to the winning bidders. Mr. Tampinco nevertheless believes that “with our collective effort, and a common dream and vision to eventually bring about an efficient and reliable energy industry for our people, such hurdles will be overcome.”
Strategic Communications and Partnership Division |