AC Energy, Fort Pilar Energy go head-to-head for Malaya plant

Malaya Thermal Plant can be privatized this year – DOE

Ayala-led AC Energy and Fort Pilar Energy, Inc. are the last of the five original bidders remaining for the third round of negotiated sale process for the 650-megawatt (MW) Malaya Thermal Power Plant (MTPP).

As of April 21, both firms have submitted all their documentary requirements, which were deemed “in order and acceptable,” according to government-owned Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM).

Back in March, PSALM also announced that China Gezhouba Group. Co. Ltd., Sta. Clara International Corporation, and VBB Trucking Trading and Consultancy Services, Inc. were among the interested parties.

The minimum offer price for the bidding, slated for this Friday (May 7) has been set at Php1,845,222,000.

Located along the shore of Laguna De Bay in Pililla, Rizal, the MTPP is being dispatched as a must-run unit (MRU) by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines given the thin power supply this summer. The plant, however, need not continue being an MRU on the closing date.

Included in the sale are MTPP’s two generators, with Unit 1 having a generating capacity of 300MW, while Unit 2 having 350MW. Also part of the sale are the five lots with an area of 246,459 square meters on which the plant sits on.

The sale’s proceeds will be used to pay for PSALM’s financial obligations it assumed from the National Power Corporation under Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA).

AC Energy has a 150MW diesel plant project close to the MTPP site.