Three groups from Philippines interested in Chevron geothermal assets
Makban geothermal power plant, Philippines (source: ThinkGeoEnergy, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
5 Sep 2016
Three big geothermal groups from the Philippines are interested in an acquisition of geothermal assets by Chevron in the Philippines.
As reported by the Inquirer in the Philippines today, there are at least three conglomerates from the country interested in geothermal assets in the Philippines currently being sold off by Chevron.
The companies interested are Ayala Corp., Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures. Chevron’s geothermal subsidiary holds a 40% stake in the Philippine Geothermal Production Co., Inc. (PGPC). The company develops and produces steam, which it sells to third-party owned Tiwi and Mak-Ban geothermal power plants in southern Luzon with a capacity of 692 MW.
The Philippino partner in PGPC is SM Group (Sy family), which holds 60% in the company.
Chevron further holds an interest in the Kalinga geothermal prospect area in northern Luzon.
AP Renewables, a unit of Aboitiz Power, is the operator of the southern Luzon power plants that use steam produced by PGPC using heat from the earth, which naturally makes the Aboitiz group one of the interested parties. The Aboitiz group bought the power plants from the state-owned Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) in 2009.
There is also a lot of international interest in the geothermal assets of Chevron, both in the Philippines and Indonesia, as we reported before.
Many other foreign and local parties are likewise interested in Chevron’s assets, with an estimated value of $2.5 billion. Among the potential international bidders are sovereign fund China Investment Corp., Malakoff Corp., Marubeni Corp. of Japan, Ormat Technologies Inc. Chevron has chosen Citigroup as an advisor for the asset sale.
Source: Inquirer
