MANILA, Philippines—State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) postponed at the last minute Wednesday the bidding for the four diesel-fired power barges.
“PSALM has opted to postpone the bidding for Power Barges 101, 102, 103 and 104 to August 17 to give more time to address some issues raised by the board,” PSALM president Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr. said.
Ledesma declined to disclose the reasons for the postponement and to identify the issues that were being threshed out by the PSALM board, but the cancellation was done about an hour before the noon deadline for the submission of bids.
PSALM, according to vice president for electricity trading Conrad Tolentino, then called all the prospective bidders to inform them that the bidding would be moved to Friday. The government was expecting at least four investor groups to participate in the bidding for the four power barges.
Representatives from Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp., however, had left their office at Rockwell and were at the PSALM office to submit an offer for the power barges when they learned of the postponement.
The bidding for the power barges, each of which can generate 32 megawatts, will be conducted on the same day that PSALM is to auction the P556-million contract to operate and maintain the 650-MW Malaya thermal power facility in Pililia, Rizal, Tolentino said.
This will be the second time that PSALM is bidding out the four power barges, which are being considered by the Department of Energy as a solution to the supply woes in electricity-starved Mindanao.
It is a precondition that the winning bidders must transfer three of the barges now in the Visayas to Mindanao as soon as possible—despite the sentiments put forward by interested companies about the potential difficulties that they might encounter should they transfer the barges to Mindanao.
PSALM will still be offering the barges in three packages, with the first combining PB 101 and 102, both of which are stationed at Barangay (village) Obrero in Iloilo City. Package 2 covers PB 103, which is moored in Botongon, Estancia, Iloilo; and package 3, PB 104, currently located at the Holcim Compound in Ilang, Davao City.
The first bidding conducted by PSALM last May 16 was declared a failure after receiving only one offer from ACTA Power Corp., a joint venture between the Ayala Group’s AC Energy Holdings and the Phinma-led Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp.
Prior to the first bidding, at least seven groups had expressed interest to participate in the auction, including San Miguel Corp. and the Lopez-led First Gen Corp.
Originally posted at 03:21 pm | Wednesday, August 15, 2012