Court favors Bac-Man in case vs contractor

Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. (EDC) said its subsidiary Bac-Man Geothermal Inc. (BGI), which owns and operates the Bacman power stations, won compensation from Weir Engineering Services Limited (Weir) over defects and damage caused by workmanship under contract for the Bacon-Manito (BacMan) geothermal plant complex in Bicol.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, EDC said the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) had issued a partial award under Phase 1 proceedings. EDC said the partial award ordered Weir to pay BGI some $4.4 million “together with post-award simple interest calculated at 5.33 percent per year.”

The tribunal also ordered Weir to pay BGI $887,902.03 as reimbursement for the legal costs incurred in connection with the emergency arbitration and Phase 1 proceedings at the ICC, EDC said. All other claims in connection with Phase 1 proceedings, whether by BGI or Weir, were dismissed except for BGI’s application for damages for wasted costs, which the partial award reserved for final determination in Phase 2, EDC said.

The same partial award declared that the ICC Tribunal had the exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine the parties’ disputes, and restrain Weir from pursuing proceedings in any other dispute resolution forum, including the CIAC, in connection with disputes already under ICC arbitration. It declared that by initiating and continuing the CIAC arbitration, Weir was in breach of the arbitration agreement, EDC said.

EDC said BGI had received the ICC Tribunal’s Phase 1 Award dated Feb. 1, 2016.