PSALM: Hydro power plant piques interest of 5 firms
By Lenie Lectura – July 16, 2024
from Business Mirror
Five firms have expressed interest to participate in the privatization of the 796.46-megawatt (MW) Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) hydroelectric power plant complex in Laguna, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said.
PSALM President Dennis Edward A. Dela Serna said the state firm held a pre-proposal conference last Friday. The qualified bidders present last week include “Marubeni, Semirara, Thunder consortium, FGen, and GigaAce,” according to the PSALM official.
PSALM is the agency mandated by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act to handle the financial obligations of the National Power Corp. (NPC) through the privatization of government-owned assets, collection of the proceeds and its effective implementation of its liability management program.
Thunder consortium, he added, is composed of Aboitiz Power Corp., Electric Power Development, Co., and Sumitomo. Aside from the five bidders, Dela Serna said there are still other interested firms but were not able to attend the pre-proposal conference.
“The purpose of the pre-proposal conference was to seek and answer questions by the qualified bidders.”
The bidding is expected this year with its awarding targeted for next year.
The government may rake in as much as P100 billon from the privatization of the CBK plant, according to Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto, who also serves as chairman of the PSALM board of directors.
The CBK plant complex is currently under a Build-Rehabilitate-Operate-Transfer (BROT) and a power purchase agreement between the CBK Power Co. Ltd. and the NPC for 25 years from its effectivity on February 7, 2001 or until February 2026.
“CBK is PSALM’s major privatization project for 2024. PSALM will commit all its efforts to ensure that this will be a win-win privatization project for both the government and the winning private company, yielding optimal returns while serving the government’s interest,” said Dela Serna.
The plants comprising the CBK Hydroelectric Power Plant Complex are in Lumban, Majayjay, and Kalayaan in Laguna.
