Government urged to prioritize sale of 1,200-MW Ilijan gas plant

The Philippine Independent Power Producers Association (PIPPA) is urging the state agency Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) to prioritize the sale of the 1,200-megawatt (MW) Ilijan natural gas-fired power plant contract under the IPPA (independent power producers administration) scheme.

PIPPA president Ernesto Pantangco said the sale of the Ilijan contract under the IPPA mode of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) would enable PSALM to meet its 70-percent privatization target.

“We proposed that. We want PSALM to target the bigger plants to reach the 70-percent target immediately,” Pantangco said.

He said it would also be best to sell after Ilijan the other big power plants’ contracts.

“What we’re suggesting is after that, it could be the Sual coal power plant, Pagbilao coal power plant, San Roque hydro and Bakun,” he said.

The list of IPP contracts for auction includes the Ilijan natural gas combined cycle, owned and operated by Korean Electric Co. (Kepco)-Ilijan Corp. in Batangas; the Pangasinan-based 1,000-MW Sual coal units 1 and 2 operated by Mirant Power Corp.; the 700-MW Pagbilao coal units 1 and 2, also operated by Mirant; the 215-MW Bauang diesel plant of Bauang Power Corp. in Zambales, Enron Power Corp.’s 116-MW Subic diesel plant and Casecnan multi-purpose hydro of the National Irrigation Administration in Nueva Ecija.

Two more hydropower facilities, the 340-MW San Roque multi-purpose hydro of Marubeni/Sithe in Pangasinan and the 70-MW Bakun Hydro of Aboitiz Equity Ventures in Ilocos Sur will also be transferred to the management of the IPPA.

The only geothermal facility that will be handled by the IPPA is the PNOC-Energy Development Corp.’s 440-MW Leyte B geothermal power plants.

PSALM expects to raise more than $13 billion from the privatization of IPP contracts.

Pantangco said they are still considering the sale on an individual basis as the best model for the sale of IPP contracts.

“Investors have concerns that the 2,000-MW package, for instance, is too big a cluster,” he said.