The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) is studying the buyout options for independent power producer (IPP) contracts, and the privatization of the Sucat Thermal Power Plant (STPP).
During the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Investment Forum on Monday, PSALM officer-in-charge Lourdes Alzona said the buyout of three power plants are undergoing studies expected to conclude early next year.
These are the 140-megawatt Casecnan multi-purpose hydropower plant in Nueva Ecija, the 210 MW Mindanao coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental and the 728 MW Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) hydropower plant in Laguna.
“The buyout of the remaining IPPA contracts, CBK, Mindanao Coal and Casecnan, are part of the pipeline of schedule of studies,” Alzona said.
Alzona said the studies will take time since other agencies need to be consulted before any actions are taken.
“Like for example, for Casecnan, it will involve other agencies like NIA (National Irrigation Administration),” she said.
The CBK plant is under an IPP contract that expires on February 7, 2026; Casecnan’s IPP runs until April 5, 2022 and the Mindanao plant is under a 25-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) power purchase agreement scheme that will end in 2031.
On the other hand, PSALM is still waiting for the environment clearance from the Department of Environment and Natural Resource (DENR) before moving forward with the privatization of the 850 MW STPP.
“By the end of the year, we were targeting to conduct bid forums and have bid documents. But we have to wait for result of the DENR clearance since it is a decommissioned asset,” the PSALM official said.
“Depending on the receipt from the DENR, Sucat’s privatization will move. Our target date is early part of 2017, that means first half,” she added.
STPP’s first bidding was dismissed when bid winner Genetron International Marketing was caught submitting fake documents. The second bidding was closed as a failed bidding after its three qualified bidders failed to meet the reserve price set by PSALM.
The sale of the Sucat plant includes all its structures, equipment, auxiliaries and units.
