PSALM set to bid out 4 power barges

MANILA, Philippines - The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities and Management Corp. (PSALM) will bid out four power barges of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) before the year ends, the state-run agency’s top executive said.

PSALM president and chief executive Emmanuel R. Ledesma said they are now preparing for the privatization of Power Barges (PB) 101, 102, 103 and 104.

He said the PSALM board has approved the sale of the power barges on the condition these will be transferred to Mindanao to augment the power supply in the island.

The transfer will occur after the power situation stabilizes in the Visayas where the power barges are currently moored. The power barges are movable and can be relocated anywhere with adequate mooring structures.

Ledesma said PSALM, in coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE), has yet to finalize the timeline and the details for the relocation. All transfer costs will be for the account of the winning bidder. 

Designed as base-load plants, PB 101, 102, 103 and 104 are nominal 32-megawatt (MW) barge-mounted bunker-fired diesel generating power stations that consist of four identical Hitachi-Sulzer diesel generator units rated at eight MW each.

Napocor bought the power barges from Japanese firm Hitachi Zosen Corp.

These barges were used to help ease a severe power shortage in the Philippines, providing the required support in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

Commissioned in 1981, PB 101 and PB 102 are currently moored at Brgy. Obrero in Iloilo City while PB 103 and 104, which were commissioned in 1985, are moored at Botongon, Estancia, Iloilo, and at the Holcim compound, Ilang, Davao City, respectively.

Since starting operations, these barges had been moved to various locations to meet technical requirements _ usually a power shortage _ or to provide reactive power support to improve voltage regulation at the end of very long transmission circuits.