PSALM sets two major biddings this week

Manila, Philippines -  State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) will push through with two major biddings this week.

Specifically, PSALM is on track to selling four power barges tomorrow and bidding out a P600-million contract to operate and maintain a coal plant in Rizal province on Friday.

“Bidding [of the power barges] will push through on Aug. 15. I am expecting it to be successful,” PSALM president and CEO Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr. said in a text message.

Last month, four investor groups expressed interest in the sale of Power Barge (PB) 101, 102, 103 and 104.

Ledesma said three of the four prospective bidders had previously participated in PSALM’s earlier bidding activities.

Last May, the auction for the power barges - the firm’s first privatization effort this year - failed as only one of seven qualified bidders submitted an offer.

Only ACTA Power Corp., a joint venture between AC Energy Holdings Inc. of Ayala Corp. and Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. of the Phinma Group, submitted a bid.

The power barges, which are movable and can be relocated anywhere with adequate mooring structures, should be transferred from Visayas to Mindanao to augment the power supply in the region.

Should the second round of bidding fails, PSALM said it has the option to enter into a negotiated sale.

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.

Meanwhile, bidding for the contract to operate the 650-MW Malaya thermal power plant located in Pililla, Rizal is scheduled on Friday.

“Two have attended the pre-bid but that is not an indicator on how many will join,” said Conrad Tolentino, PSALM vice-president for asset management and electricity trading.

Early this month, PSALM conducted a pre-bid conference with prospective bidders to discuss the technical aspects of the project. The main concern of investors is the condition of the power plant.

Ledesma earlier said other prospective bidders may still acquire bidding documents up to the bidding date.

In July, PSALM started inviting bids for the one-year operation and maintenance of the Malaya plant.

The state-owned firm has allotted as much as P555.828 million of its 2013 corporate operating budget to pay the contract.