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Philippines to run second round auction for Unified Leyte early 2015

Philippines to run second round auction for Unified Leyte early 2015 Tongonan, Leyte Geothermal power plant, Philippines
Francisco Rojas 22 Jul 2014

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation in the Philippines will auction the remaining capacity of the Leyte geothermal power plant by early 2015

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) will have a second-round auction for the remaining capacity of the Unified Leyte geothermal power plant (ULGPP) early next year according to local sources.

As stated by Buisness World Online, Emmanuel R. Ledesma, Jr., PSALM president and chief executive officer, said the company is preparing the bid documents for the independent power producer administrator (IPPA) contract.“The ULGPP bulk energy is targeted to be bid out again in the first quarter of 2015,” he said in a text message over the weekend.

In November, PSALM auctioned off ULGPP’s contracted capacity in “strips” and “bulk,” whereby the state-run firm offered a total of 200 megawatts (MW) for strips of energy and the remaining capacity for the bulk energy. Unified Leyte Geothermal Energy, Inc. (ULGEI) bagged the IPPA contract for the “bulk energy” but the company withdrew its bid, citing the damage typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) caused the plant in November.

“The ULGPP strips of energy were already awarded to the winning bidders early this year,” said Mr. Ledesma.

These bidders were:

ULGEI (40 MW);

FDC Utilities, Inc. (40 MW)

Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. (40 MW)

Aboitiz Energy Solutions, Inc. (40 MW)

Good Friends Hydro Resources Corp. (20 MW)

Vivant Energy Corp. (17 MW)

Waterfront Mactan Casino Hotel, Inc. (3 MW)

The ULGPP complex — which straddles Ormoc City and municipality of Kananga — is composed of the 125-MW Upper Mahiao plant, 232.5-MW Malitbog plant, 180-MW Mahanagdong plant, and 51-MW optimization plants.

As IPPAs, winning firms would manage the contracted output of the power plant, which can be traded on the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.PSALM was formed under Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 to assume ownership of and manage all National Power Corp.’s assets, liabilities, contracts with independent power producers, real estate and other disposable assets.Besides the remaining ULGPP capacity, PSALM also plans to auction off the IPPA of the 140-MW Casecnan hydroelectric power plant in Nueva Ecija next year.

Mr. Ledesma had said last month PSALM was already in the planning stage for the privatization but it could also be done in the first quarter.This coming September, PSALM is also set to conduct an auction for the IPPA selection of the Mt. Apo 1 and 2 geothermal power plants in North Cotabato.

Source: Business World Online Website