19 Apr 2010
Firm in its resolve to expeditiously and efficiently meet the last precondition for the implementation of open access and retail competition in the power industry, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation Friday, 16 April 2010, declared San Miguel Corporation as the highest bidder for the appointment of an independent power producer administrator (IPPA) to manage the contracted capacity of the National Power Corporation in the 1,200-megawatt Ilijan Combined Cycle Power Plant.
San Miguel offered USD870,000,473 for the Ilijan contracted capacity to edge out three other groups in the successful exercise conducted by PSALM. The next highest bidder, Trans Asia Oil and Energy Development Corporation, offered USD804,484,877, while First Gen Luzon Power Corporation and Therma Power Visayas Inc. bid USD534,148,533 and USD100,029,153, respectively.
San Miguel, a publicly-listed food, beverage and packaging company, is one of the country's leading business conglomerates. Aside from bagging the contracted capacity of the Ilijan plant, the corporation's subsidiary, Strategic Power Dev't Corp., currently administers the contracted capacity of National Power in the San Roque multipurpose hydropower, while another subsidiary, San Miguel Energy Corp., administers the contracted capacity of the Sual coal-fired thermal power plant. Another San Miguel company also owns the Limay Combined Cycle Power, a generating plant it acquired in August 2009.
PSALM will verify the accuracy, authenticity, and completeness of the bid documents submitted by San Miguel before issuing a Notice of Award officially declaring the company as the winning IPPA.
With the success of the Ilijan IPPA bidding, PSALM has now bid out 68.22% of its IPP contracts in the Luzon and Visayas grids, or 3,345.75 MW of the total 4,904.55-MW capacity in the area. PSALM is now even closer to meeting the required 70% privatization of the contracted capacities of independent power producers (IPPs) in the Luzon and Visayas grids as specified in Republic Act No.9136, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.
Before the Ilijan IPPA contract, PSALM successfully bid out the contracted capacities of National Power in the Bakun-Benguet hydropower plants, the San Roque multipurpose hydropower facility, the Sual coal-fired power plant, and the Pagbilao coal-fired power plant.
Located in Ilijan in the Southern Luzon province of Batangas, the Ilijan power plant is operated by the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), through KEPCO Ilijan Corporation, under a build-operate-transfer contract that will expire in 2022.
The Ilijan power facility is a flagship project of the government that uses natural gas from the Camago-Malampaya fields in Palawan. The plant significantly contributes to meeting the growing base-load power demands of the country.
Strategic Communications and Partnership Division |