CEBU, Philippines — The SPC Power Corporation is ready to turn over the 153.1-megawatt Naga Power Plant Complex (NPPC) to Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) following the recent Supreme Court ruling.
"We are in talks with PSALM for the proper turn over protocols of the Naga plant," said SPC chairman Alfredo L. Henares yesterday on the sidelines during the company's stockholders meeting held at the City Sports Club.
SPC, formerly Salcon Power, will in turn, ask the PSALM to return the P1.143 billion it paid to acquire the complex before it went to court.
The proper protocol is for PSALM to return the acquisition investment, before SPC could formally turn over the plant to them.
He clarified however, the SPC will not directly hand-over the plant to Aboitiz Power Corporation but they will deal with PSALM in the turn-over.
The Cebu-based unit of Aboitiz Power, the Therma Power Visayas Inc., has received the Certificate of Effectivity (COE) from PSALM to initiate its purchase of the state-owned Naga power plant.
The COE implements the September 28, 2015 decision of the Supreme Court, which upheld the April 30, 2014 award of the facility to Therma Power Visayas.
Whether Aboitiz will rehabilitate the old facility or demolish it to build a new one is still under evaluation.
"It is possible that we will build a new facility. It's a given that we will do something about it," said Jaime Jose Aboitiz, AboitizPower executive vice president and chief operating officer (COO ) for the Distribution Business Group, when asked for comment.
"The Cebu diesel power plant 1 that has a capacity of 33.0 megawatt, remains under the care of SPC, pending the eventual turnover of the Naga Power Plant Complex to PSALM, as a result of the adverse supreme court decision on the acquisition of the NPPC," Henares reported to the company's stakeholders yesterday.
The SPC Group recorded a total comprehensive income amounted to P1.677 billion in 2017, a 6.2 percent lower compared to the P1.788 billion it generated in 2016.
Henares reasoned that the income plunged was due mainly to the impact of the power system disturbance that hit the Visayas region in July 2017, coupled by the expiration of the income tax holiday previously enjoyed by major associates.
However, the results still translated to a respectable double-digit return on average equity of 18.35 percent as compared to 21.09 percent the year before.
Partly-owned by a Korean conglomerate, SPC's subsidiaries are SPC Island Power Corporation; Cebu Naga Power Corporation; SPC Malaya Power Corporation; Bohol Light Company, Inc.; SPC Light Company, Inc.; and SPC Electric Company. The Company's associates are Mactan Electric Company, Inc. and KEPCO SPC Power Corporation. (FREEMAN)