Korean firm likely to bag Malaya power plant contract

Korean firm Soosan ENS Co. Ltd. was the lone bidder for a yearlong contract to operate and maintain the 650-megawatt Malaya Thermal Power Plant in Rizal, according to the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm).

Psalm said in a statement that Soosan ENS had asked for P208.74 million for the Malaya contract, which was within the approved budget of P213 million.

The state firm said that, following the implementing rules of Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act, Soosan ENS needed to undergo postqualification evaluation before the contract could be awarded.

This is the latest bid call for Malaya, with another firm having been declared lone bidder in a previous round held in April.

The Malaya facility, which runs on diesel, provides backup power in instances when supply is not enough in the Luzon grid.

The  power plant is currently being overseen by STX Marine Service Co. Ltd.—another South Korean firm—but its contract will expire in less than three months on Aug. 25.

The four-decade-old power plant underwent rehabilitation in 1995 through a 15-year rehabilitate-operate-manage-mantain agreement with Korea Electric Power Corp.