DMCI, Aboitiz/SPC Power join pre-bid for Naga plant

MANILA, Philippines - DMCI Holdings Inc., the Aboitiz Group, D.M. Wenceslao and SPC Power Corp. have expressed interest in bidding for the 145.8-megawatt Naga Power Plant Complex in Cebu, which the government is set to bid out next month.

Industry sources said the four companies joined the pre-bid conference for the power plant conducted by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), the agency tasked to manage the assets and liabilities of state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor).

DMCI Holdings is owned by the Consunji Group, an established construction business that has also expanded into the power sector through the 600-MW Calaca coal fired power plant in Batangas.

D.M. Wenceslao, meanwhile, is also a construction firm with more than 40 years experience.

AboitizPower Corp., meanwhile, is the power generation arm of the Aboitiz Group, one of the country’s conglomerates.

SPC Power, former Salcon Power, currently operates the Naga complex through an operations and maintenance agreement with PSALM.

PSALM president Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. confirmed that four groups attended the pre-bid conference wherein PSALM officials discussed the bidding procedures for the Naga power plant sale.

“The bidder’s comments and clarifications during the pre-bid covered the provisions of the bidding procedures, terms of asset sale, due diligence process and bidding schedule,” Ledesma said.

PSALM has set the deadline of submission of bids for the Naga privatization on July 24 at exactly 12 noon, after which the opening and evaluation of bids would be conducted.

The Naga complex in Cebu is composed of three thermal power plants that use a combination of diesel, bunker C oil and coal as fuel.

These power plants are: the 50-megawatt coal-fired Cebu Thermal Power Plant 1, the 56.8-MW Cebu Thermal Power Plant 2 and the 39-MW Cebu Diesel Power Plant 1.