SPC unit plans rehab of 3 former Napocor barges

SPC Power subsidiary SPC Island Power Corp. is keen on rehabilitating three privatized power barges, but seems to be on a wait-and-see mode for the fourth barge that may soon be put on the auction block.

The plan is expected to cost the company a total of P150 million.

“Rehabilitation would cost about P50 million for each barge,” SPC Island Power SVP Alfredo Ballesteros told reporters after his company was declared to have offered the highest bid for Power Barges 101 to 103, which were sold in one package.

The rehabilitation of the three barges will likely take about three months, he said.

SPC Island Power needs to pass post-qualification evaluation before it can start work on the Iloilo-based barges. Each barge has a rated capacity of 8 megawatts. The company may seek bilateral contracts for the power output, he said.

Asked whether SPC Island will again participate when the fourth barge—the Davao-based PB 104—is offered for privatization, Ballesteros said, “We’ll think about it.”

He noted that much work needed to be done just for the first three barges.

Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), which manages the remaining power assets of National Power Corp. (Napocor), said the previous bidding for PB 104 failed as none of the bidders met the desired price. Another round of bidding will likely be held for PB 104, which has to be operated in Mindanao for five years.

Only three of the eight expected bidders submitted offers for PBs 101 to 103 (in one package) and for PB 104 (the second package). These were SPC Island, Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. and D.M. Wenceslao and Associates Inc.

SPC Island and Trans-Asia qualified to bid for Package 1. SPC Island had the higher bid of P545.89 million, followed by Trans-Asia’s P370.52 million bid.

PBs 101, 102, 103 and 104 are barge-mounted bunker-fired diesel generating power stations composed of four identical Hitachi-Sulzer diesel generator units. Each unit is rated at 8MW.

Commissioned in 1981, PBs 101 and 102 are currently stationed at Bo. Obrero in Iloilo City. PBs 103 and 104, which began operating in 1985, are moored in Botongon, Estancia, Iloilo and at the Holcim Compound, Ilang in Davao City, respectively.

In August, eight companies, expressed interest in participating in the re-bidding of the barges. Industry observers said the recent re-bidding (two earlier tenders failed on lack of competitive bids) was roundly expected to be more interesting to investors because PSALM no longer required potential winners to move the barges to Mindanao. Moving the barges would increase the cost for potential investors.

PSALM president and CEO Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr. said significant changes were incorporated in the sale of PBs 101 to 104 to address the concerns of prospective bidders.