Napocor inks loan for Masbate power project

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) is scheduled to sign today a 17.5-million euro project contract that would bring electricity to 128 barangays in Masbate.

Co-signatories to the contract as the electrification project’s contractor are the Paris-Manila Technology Corp. (Pamatec) and ETDE of Bouygues Construction. The contract is part of the untapped 22.5-million euro French Financial Protocol, which was signed in November 2004 between France and the Philippine government.

The contract is part of a treaty between the two governments, thus freeing the project from the public bidding rules under the build-operate-transfer scheme.

The 22.5-million euro loan is funded by the French government (60 percent) and BNP-Paribas (40-percent) with a repayment period of 25 years and 15 years, respectively.

Napocor president Cyril C. del Callar said that the project is the single biggest investment in Masbate. It will impact on the lives of some 707,000 Masbateños once the project is completed in 2007.

The project will require the contractors to establish several diesel-fired generators in the barangays depending on the size and population of the barangay. Likewise, solar panel systems will also be used.

The Special Power Utilities Group (SPUG), a subsidiary of Napocor, will manage all the systems after its construction. It already operates the 2.5-megawatt (MW) Masbate diesel power plant I, the 14.4-MW power barge 105, and the 1.4-MW Ticao diesel power plant.

Del Callar said the Masbate project is part of the Arroyo administration’s plan of bringing electricity to all the 41,945 barangays nationwide.

According to the Department of Energy (DOE), 38,850 barangays or 92.62 percent of total now have access to power as of end-April this year. Government plans to increase this to 94.7 percent by end 2005, 97.5 percent by next year, and 100 percent by 2008.