PSALM resets bidding for Malaya Thermal Power Plant, land asset

By Lenie Lectura – August 13, 2019
from Business Mirror

THE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) has pushed back the bidding for the 650-megawatt (MW) Malaya Thermal Power Plant (Malaya TPP) and its underlying land.

The bidding was supposed to take place this month but PSALM President Irene Joy Garcia said a new requirement set by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) would push the bid schedule to September.

“The third-party consultant, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), is almost done with their report. Originally, we scheduled the bid submission this August. But we issued an SBB (supplemental bid bulletin) moving the bid submission date to September,” said Garcia.

This was necessary because PSALM needs to comply with the new requirement of the OGCC, she explained.

“We need to secure clearance from OGCC for all agreements to be entered into by PSALM. In the case of Malaya, we will need to enter into an asset purchase agreement [APA] with the bidder. Thus, PSALM is now coordinating with OGCC to secure clearance on the provisions of the said APA. Once that is done, we can proceed with the bidding,” said Garcia.

PwC Philippines was earlier named the winning bidder for the valuation of the Malaya plant.

As the winning principal consultant, PwC Philippines shall craft financial models and analyses to optimize value for the land and structures of Malaya TPP. The subconsultant, Asian Appraisal Co. Inc., shall be responsible for appraising the land underlying the Malaya TPP.

PwC Philippines was supposed to present the results of its valuation to the PSALM board of directors this month on the same day of the conduct of the public bidding for the Malaya TPP and its underlying land.

PSALM has rescheduled the auction for the power asset many times, citing the need to come up with a basis for a base price, which would have to be determined by the third-party consultant.

A number of power firms have expressed interest to buy the power plant. PSALM had previously named four qualified bidders, namely, AC Energy Inc., DM Wenceslao and Associates Inc., DMCI Power Corp. and FGen Reliable Energy Holdings Inc.

Laoag asset for sale

Meanwhile, the agency said it is selling via public bidding its land asset in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte. The asset has a total area of about 3,530 square meters with a minimum bid price of P70.6 million. This asset used to be the location of the Laoag Diesel Power Plant.

PSALM set the bid submission deadline at 12 noon of September 5. Due diligence activities may be conducted by interested bidders starting August 8 until two days before bid submission deadline.

PSALM has scheduled on August 22 a pre-bid conference for bidders to raise their inquiries on the technical aspects of the sale.