PSALM to pick administrator for Mt. Apo geothermal plants

MANILA, Philippines - The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), the state agency tasked to oversee the privatization of power assets, will start the selection and appointment of the independent power producer administrator (IPPA) for the Mindanao-based Mt. Apo 1 and 2 geothermal power plants.

PSALM president Emmanuel Ledesma, Jr. said during the meeting of the board of directors on Jan. 29, “we have been given the authority to commence the sale process for the Mt. Apo IPPA selection, and we plan to conduct the bidding in the third quarter of this year.”

He said PSALM would use the same structures used in the selection and appointment of IPPA for the bulk energy of the Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plant, which was bid out last year.

The IPPA for the Mt. Apo plant will manage two government contracts, with contracted energies of 390 gigawatt-hours (gwh) and 398 gwh per year, respectively.

The Mt. Apo 1 and Mt. Apo 2 geothermal plants, each with a rated capacity of 54.24 megawatts, are located in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato.

Owned and operated by Energy Development Corp., the power plants were commissioned in February 1997 (Mt. Apo 1) and June 1999 (Mt. Apo 2) under a build-operate own contract scheme.

The cooperation period for both plants is 25 years, which would expire on Feb. 15, 2022 for Mt. Apo 1 and on June 17, 2024 for Mt. Apo 2.