Aboitiz to bid for VisMin power production deals

Screengrab from www.aboitiz.com

Power Corp. plans to bid for the government-managed contracted capacities of at least three power facilities in Visayas and Mindanao, as part of the company’s move to tap privatization opportunities in the power sector.

APC chief executive officer Erramon Aboitiz told reporters that the company was interested in bidding for the independent power producer administrator (IPPA) contract for the 210-megawatt coal-fired power plant of Steag State Power Inc. in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental; the 650-MW Unified Leyte geothermal plants; and the Mt. Apo geothermal facilities in Mindanao which could generate over 100 MW.

“We tend to look at all the power biddings, try to understand them and decide if we want to participate,” Aboitiz said. “I think part of the schedule of PSALM (Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.) is also to offer the Steag IPPA. We will look at that also.”

PSALM president Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. separately said the agency is eyeing to offer by the first half of 2015 the IPPA contracts for the Steag plant, which was put up under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement with the government.

Aboitiz added that the company remained interested in bidding for the Unified Leyte bulk energy IPPA contracts, which may be auctioned off within the year. APC is likewise studying the IPPA contract offered for the Mt. Apo 1 and 2 geothermal plants, he further disclosed.

PSALM had offered the contracted capacities of the Unified Leyte facilities last year, but the bidding was halted after Supertyphoon “Yolanda” damaged power facilities. The agency is also set to bid out on Sept. 24 the IPPA contracts for the Mt. Apo plants.

The Mt. Apo  1 and Mt. Apo 2 geothermal power plants have a rated capacity of 54.24 MW each, and are located in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato.  Owned and operated by the Lopez-led Energy Development Corp., the power plants were commissioned on Feb. 15, 1997 (Mt. Apo 1) and  June 17, 1999 (Mt. Apo 2) under a build, operate and own contract scheme. The cooperation period for both plants is 25 years, and the same will expire on Feb. 15, 2022 and  June 17, 2024 for Mt. Apo 1 and 2, respectively.

The independent power producer administrator (IPPA) will be responsible for sourcing the power plants’ fuel requirements and managing the contracted energy output of the facilities, including selling the energy production or offering ancillary services. Amy R. Remo