State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. said it would soon start the bidding process for the sale of four diesel-fired power barges to comply with the provisions of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira).
In a statement, PSALM president and chief executive officer Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr. said that the board of directors has already approved the sale of Power Barges 101, 102, 103 and 104, with the condition that the barges should be transferred to Mindanao to augment the power supply in the region.
The transfer will occur after the power situation stabilizes in the Visayas, where the power barges are currently moored, Ledesma said.
PSALM, in coordination with the Department of Energy, has yet to finalize the timeline and details for the relocation. All transfer costs will be on the account of the winning bidder, he said.
“The power barges are movable, and can be relocated anywhere with adequate mooring structures. Designed as base-load plants, PB 101, 102, 103 and 104 are nominal 32-megawatt (MW) barge-mounted bunker-fired diesel generating power stations that consist of four identical Hitachi-Sulzer diesel generator units rated at 8 MW each,” Ledesma explained.
The transfer of the diesel power barges was meant to avoid rotating brownouts in Mindanao given its heavy reliance on hydropower plants.
Currently, Mindanao sources more than half of its electricity requirements from hydropower sources, with the Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex providing over 700 megawatts.
However, the bidding for the four power barges is also threatened to be postponed because of a pending house resolution filed by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez.
Through the bill, the legislator is urging PSALM “not to bid out the remaining four power barges and instead make them available to provide power in Mindanao.”
The lawmaker earlier sought a congressional probe on PSALM to determine why the agency had to sell the barges to the detriment of Mindanao power consumers.
State-run National Power Corp. earlier bought the power barges from a Japanese firm, Hitachi Zosen Corp. These barges were used to help ease a severe power shortage in the Philippines, providing required support in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Commissioned in 1981, PB 101 and PB 102 are currently moored at Barrio Obrero, Iloilo City, while PB 103 and 104, which were commissioned in 1985, are moored at Botongon, Estancia, Iloilo, and at the Holcim Compound, Ilang, Davao City, respectively.
Since they began operations, these barges had been moved about to provide power support in various regions. Amy R. Remo