PSALM raises P20.8 B from sale of power assets

MANILA, Philippines - The government has raised P20.80 billion from the sale of power assets in 2014, boosting state coffers.

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), the state agency tasked to privatize the assets of National Power Corp., sold two big-ticket power facilities last year, its president Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. said.

These are the 218-megawatt Angat hydroelectric power plant in Bulacan, from which the government raised P19.66 billion, and the 153.1-MW Naga power plant in Cebu, from which generated P1.14 billion.

“The actual cash received from Naga of P1.14 billion includes rental of P0.62 billion plus option price of P0.06 billion,” Ledesma said.

PSALM sold the Angat hydroelectric power plant (HEPP) in Bulacan to  Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-Water) after years of encountering stumbling blocks such as a petition questioning the sale filed by private group. Actual turnover of operations commenced on Oct. 31.

K-Water won the bidding for the Angat HEPP on April 28, 2010 with its bid of $441 million, beating other bidders such as First Gen Northern Energy Corp., San Miguel Corp., SN-Aboitiz Power Pangasinan Inc., Trans-Asia Oil & Energy Development Corp. and DMCI Power Corp.

Located in San Lorenzo, Norzagaray in Bulacan, the Angat HEPP consists of four main units, each with a 50-MW capacity.  The units were commissioned between 1967 and 1968, PSALM data showed.

To augment its operation, the plant uses five auxiliary units with a total capacity of 46 MW.  The 18-MW Auxiliary Units 1, 2 and 3 are part of the sale, while the 28-MW Auxiliary Units 4 and 5, which are owned by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, were not part of the bidding.

PSALM, meanwhile, also turned over the 153.1-MW Naga power plant to its new owner, SPC Power Corp. last September.

PSALM and SPC closed the sale of the Naga plant on Sept. 23.

The Naga power plant consists of the 52.5-MW Cebu 1 and 56.8-MW Cebu 2 coal-fired thermal power plants, and the 43.8-MW Cebu diesel power plant 1 composed of six 7.3-MW bunker-C fed power units. Specifically situated in Colon,Naga City, Cebu, these power plants use a combination of coal, bunker C oil, and diesel as fuel, data from PSALM showed.

PSALM still needs to sell several power plants with a total capacity of 1,600 MW to 1,700 MW and expects to raise $3.2 billion to $3.4 billion from the sale of the remaining assets, which are lined up for privatization up to 2017.