The Aboitiz group is finalizing a consortium to bid for Chevron Corporation’s assets in the Philippines and in Indonesia once auctioned within the year.
The company is currently in talks with potential foreign partners like Marubeni Corp. in Japan, Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) CFO Manuel Lozano said on Wednesday.
“We believe in both the Philippines and Indonesian assets so we definitely want to participate but the final decision is not yet made as of today but hopefully soon the bidding will be completed,” he said.
Lozano added that they’re looking for Indonesian partners in the consortium for the Chevron assets.
“Ideally for us, we know we can have strong partners but we are also looking at domestic Indonesian partners as well so it will really depend on how much each one is willing to put in in terms of the bid,” Lozano said.
Power subsidiary of AEV, Aboitiz Power Corp or its unit will join the consortium that will consist of three or four parties. The consortium is set to be formed soon.
“As far as I know, the sellers want to do it within the year so we are beholden to their timeline,” Lozano said.
AEV will be taking a significant stake in the consortium “that would not be seen as a passive minority,” he added.
“I think it’s hard for us to be full majority especially in Indonesia as we don’t have much presence in Indonesia, but certainly a significant minority so we can be part of the decision-making process,” Lozano said.
AboitizPower currently has geothermal assets like the 289 MW Tiwi plant in Albay and 458 MW MakBan facilities in Laguna and Batangas, which gives an edge in forming a consortium.
Chevron Corp announced that it would be unloading its geothermal energy blocks located in Indonesia and the Philippines amounting to $3 billion.
Chevron holds two geothermal projects in Java – Darajat project supplying steam to a 270 MW plant under Chevron Geothermal Indonesia Ltd and Salak project supplying steam to a 377 MW – six unit pant under Chevron Geothermal Salak Ltd.
Meanwhile, the US company has a 40 percent stake in Philippine Geothermal Production Co. that operates the geothermal production field which supplies the steam requirements of the Aboitiz Group’s Tiwi and MakBan plants.
“The Philippine asset is just a steam field so they don’t own a power plant. They just own the steam of Tiwi-Makban which sells them to our Aboitiz Power Tiwi-Makban power plants,” Lozano said.