Bidding for Palinpinon-Tongonan set

MANILA, Philippines - The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. has set the bidding for the sale of the 192.5-megawatt Palinpinon and 112.5-MW Tongonan geothermal power plant package on Aug. 12 this year.

PSALM said potential buyers have until May 22 to submit their letters of interests (LOIs) to bid for the two power plants.

“Interested parties that submit the LOI must be parties that will participate in the privatization process, submit a bid and enter into the pertinent agreements,” PSALM said.

Three groups have earlier announced their intention to bid for the Palinpinon geothermal power facility. These were Energy Development Corp. (EDC) of the Lopezes, Aboitiz Power Corp. of the Aboitiz family and Trans-Asia Oil and Power Development of the Phinma Group.

Under the bidding rules, interested parties have to post a bid security equivalent to $5 million in the form of irrevocable standby-letter of credit or wire transfer in lieu of the letter of credit. PSALM said a two-envelope bidding system for the geothermal facilities will be adopted.

The interested parties can also undertake their respective due diligence activities from May 11 to Aug. 10. A pre-bid conference will be held on June 20.

The Palinpinon geothermal facility is located in Valencia, Negros Oriental.The plant utilizes steam supplied by EDC.

Palinpinon 1, with an installed capacity of 112.5 MW, was commissioned in 1983. An additional 80 MW was added from 1993 to 1995, bringing its total capacity to 192.5 MW.

The Palinpinon power plant supplies 18 percent to 20 percent of the electricity demand in the Cebu-Negros-Panay-Bohol-Leyte-Samar Grid. – Donnabelle Gatdula