Laguna power complex draws big-time bidders

MANILA, Philippines — Some of the country’s richest clans, along with foreign companies, are interested in seizing control of a 797-megawatt hydropower complex in Laguna.

State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) conducted a pre-proposal conference for the sale of the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) assets, attracting nine companies.

The prospective bidders include Ayala-led Giga Ace 11 Inc., First Gen Prime Energy Corp. of the Lopez Group, tycoon Ramon Ang’s San Miguel Global Power, Consunji-led Semirara Mining and Power Corp. and Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. of billionaire Enrique Razon Jr.

Also interested in the CBK complex are I Squared Capital-backed Hexa Philippines Holdings Inc., Tokyo-based Marubeni Corp., Korea Water Resources Corp. and Thunder Consortium, consisting of Aboitiz Renewables Inc. and Japan’s J-Power and Sumitomo Corp.

The bid proposal submission date is on June 16.

The pre-proposal conference provided interested bidders with a comprehensive overview of the project, the bidding process and the agreements involved in the CBK sale.

“We aim to inform interested companies ahead of time of the documentary requirements to successfully participate in the bidding process for the CBK power plants,” said Arnold Francisco, PSALM vice president for privatization and asset management.

“This conference is also an opportunity for parties to inquire on any lingering issue regarding the bidding for CBK,” he said.

PSALM announced the reopening of the bidding late last month following a previous failed attempt to privatize the asset.

CBK, which consists of power plants in Lumban, Majayjay and Kalayaan in Laguna, is being privatized on an “as is, where is” basis. This means the buyer must accept the property in its current condition and at its present location.

PSALM was supposed to privatize the project last year, but the previous auction process was scrapped in an effort to “optimize the assets to be privatized and give maximum value to stakeholders.”

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, who chairs the PSALM board, was expecting to generate up to P100 billion from the CBK privatization to help plug the deficit of the cash-strapped state firm.

CBK, the country’s only operating pumped-storage hydro facility, is currently contracted to CBK Power Co. Ltd. under a 25-year build-rehabilitate-operate-transfer agreement set to expire in February 2026.