PSALM sets rebidding of 153-MW Naga plant

State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) is bidding out for the third time the 153.1-megawatt Naga Power plant in Cebu by the end of March.

This follows two failed attempts of PSALM to sell the facility to the private sector last year.

In a notice, PSALM said interested bidders must submit a letter of interest by Feb. 14, execute a confidentiality agreement and an undertaking, and pay a non-refundable participation fee of P120,000.

The bidding package, which will outline the procedure for the sale of the Naga facility, will be made available starting Feb. 7 until Feb. 17.

Prospective investors can also start their due diligence of the facility starting Friday.

A pre-bidding conference will be held on Feb. 24 to allow interested bidders to clarify issues pertaining to the conditions and bidding procedures, while the deadline for the submission of bids is slated for March 31 at 12 noon.

The previous auctions, held in July and October last year, were declared failure due to lack of qualified bidders for the asset. Only one group was prequalified in both auctions.

Prior to the first bidding held in July last year, PSALM had said there were five investor groups interested in acquiring the Naga plant. These included D.M. Wenceslao and Associates Inc.; DMCI Power Corp.; PowerOne Ventures Energy Inc.; Quezon Power (Philippines) Ltd. Co.; and SPC Power.

Located in Colon, Naga City in Cebu, the Naga power plant is composed of two thermal power plants and one diesel-fed plant that use a combination of diesel, bunker C oil and coal as fuel. These are the 52.5-MW Cebu 1 and 56.8- MW Cebu2 coal-fired power plants and the 43.8-MW Cebu diesel power plant 1, which is composed of six 7.3-MW bunker C fed units.