Gov’t to bid out Naga plant deal

MANILA, Philippines—State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) is looking at bidding out in the next quarter the independent power producer administrator (IPPA) contract for the 149-megawatt Naga coal-fired facility in Cebu.

PSALM president and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. said the company’s board of directors has finally approved the sale of the Naga IPPA contract next month.

Four companies were earlier expected to vie for the Naga IPPA contract, which included publicly listed firms Pacifica Inc. and diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp.

While the contracted capacity of the Naga power plant continues to be managed by the government, PSALM is seeking P500 million worth of contracts for the supply and delivery of local blended coal for the facility. All bids must be submitted on or before March 28.

PSALM was looking at buying 80,000 metric tons of coal, forming part of the Naga facility’s requirements for this year.

The Naga power plant complex is composed of the Cebu power plant complex 1 with an installed capacity of 55 MW; Cebu power plant complex 2 with an installed capacity of 55 MW; and Cebu diesel power plant 1 with an installed capacity of 39 MW.

Ledesma also disclosed that the Energy Regulatory Commission has given PSALM up to June 30 to file its applications for the recovery of P230 billion worth of stranded debt and contract costs.

ERC Executive Director Francis Saturnino Juan confirmed that the letter to PSALM granting the extension was issued last week.

Since the amended guidelines to govern the filing for the recovery of these debts and contract costs were released only last March 7, PSALM would require more time to comply with the necessary requirements and all other documents needed to verify and validate the applications.

Originally, the ERC gave PSALM until March 15 to make the necessary filings for the imposition of a universal charge on all power consumers.

The amount that PSALM was targeting to recover would be charged on power consumers through the universal charge for stranded debts (UC-SD) and for stranded contracts costs (UC-SCC). The P230 billion being sought was equivalent to an additional charge across all power consumers of about 12 to 15 centavos a kilowatt-hour.