05 Apr 2010
The draft protocol for the use and the release of water passing through the Angat Hydroelectric Power Plant (HEPP) was recently discussed by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation with prospective bidders for the power facility as PSALM pressed forward with the privatization of the Angat HEPP.
In a forum held last Tuesday (30 March 2010), PSALM presented the draft water protocol to the bidders, with representatives from the National Power Corporation, National Water Resources Board (NWRB), National Irrigation Administration (NIA), and Metropolitan Waterworks & Sewerage System (MWSS) as resource persons. These agencies, along with PSALM and the buyer of the Angat HEPP, will be the signatories to the protocol.
PSALM Vice President for Asset Management and Electricity Trading Conrad S. Tolentino presided over the page-by-page presentation and discussion of the latest version of the Angat water protocol drafted by the NWRB.
The prospective bidders were requested to submit in writing their comments on the draft. PSALM will consolidate these comments and endorse them to the NWRB, which will incorporate them, as it deems necessary, in the final version of the water protocol.
PSALM likewise assured representatives of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, who attended last Tuesday's forum, that their concerns, particularly those of the Dumagat tribe, would be addressed.
Once finalized and signed, the Angat water protocol will govern water releases and water use in the Angat Dam, with specific functions delineated to each agency. At present, National Power, MWSS, and NIA abide by operational rules passed by the NWRB after due consultation with the stakeholders.
PSALM stressed that the use of water from the Angat Dam for domestic purposes and irrigation has priority over power generation as stipulated in law and in the bidding provisions for the Angat HEPP. This priority will be taken into consideration by the prospective bidders as they prepare their respective offers for the bid submission deadline on 28 April 2010.
Strategic Communications and Partnership Division |