PSALM may bid out four power barges as 1 package

MANILA, Philippines - The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) is more inclined to bid out four power barges as a single package, a top official said.

PSALM vice president for asset management and electricity trading Conrad Tolentino said it would be more logical to lump the sale of the four barges – Power Barges 101 to 104 – as these have only 32 megawatts (MW) of capacity each.

PSALM, an entity created under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), is handling the privatization of the assets of the National Power Corp. (Napocor).

Tolentino said they will consult the prospective bidders on their preference for the sale of the power barges.

“It will depend on the investors,” he pointed out.

The PSALM official, however, said they would also like to fetch an optimal price for the power facilities. “We would like to know which sale process will be a win win to all,” he said.

He said they will start sending out the invitation to bid for the power barges between October to November this year.

In an earlier statement, PSALM said they plan to put these power barges on the auction block between December 2010 to January 2011.

PSALM has yet to dispose the remaining big-ticket items such as the Unified Leyte geothermal power plant complex and the Naga power plant’s contracts.

It would be noted that the privatization of the contracted capacities were scheduled this year but have been opposed by some sectors.

“No definite date so far for (the bidding of) Unified Leyte and Naga,” Tolentino said.

Aside from the power barges, other Napocor power facilities set to be disposed by PSALM are the 982-MW Agus-Pulangi hydroelectric complex, the 850-MW Sucat thermal plant and the 630-MW Malaya thermal plant.

Moreso, PSALM has yet to bid out the contracted capacitities of the 131.8-MW Naga power plant, 559-MW Unified Leyte geothermal capacities, 728-MW Caliraya-Botokan-Kalayaan hydro plants, 100-MW Western Mindanao Power Corp., 50-MW Southern Philippines Power Corp., 200-MW Mindanao coal plant, 92.52-MW Mt Apo 1 and 2 geothermal project and the 165-MW Casecnan hydropower plant.

PSALM has successfully sold 26 generating plants and five decommissioned plants. It has succesfully bid out 91.73 percent of Napocor’s generating assets in the Luzon and Visayas grids.

The agency also privatized 68.7 percent of the total contracted capacities of the Luzon and Visayas grids to independent power producer administrators (IPPAs).

PSALM generated $3.467 billion from the sale of the generating assets and $3.23 billion from the IPP contracts.