PSALM mulls IPP buyouts, sale of Sucat power plant

MANILA, Philippines – The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) is lining up privatization activities next year, including the option to buy out all independent power producer (IPP) contracts and to sell the decommissioned 850-megawatt (MW) Sucat thermal power plant (STPP).

The state-run firm is mulling the buyout of the 728-MW Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) hydropower plant in Laguna, the 140-MW Casecnan multi purpose hydropower plant in Nueva Ecija, and the 210-MW  Mindanao coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental.

But a study will have to be undertaken first which is set to conclude in the early part of 2017, PSALM officer-in-charge Lourdes Alzona said on the sidelines of the Department of Energy’s Energy Investment Forum yesterday.

“The buyout of the remaining IPPA contracts,CBK, Mindanao Coal and Casecnan, are part of the pipeline of schedule of studies,” she said. “The studies have been started and are targeted to finish in the early part of 2017.”

The studies will take time since the inputs of other agencies are necessary, Alzona said.

“Like for example, for  Casecnan, it will involve other agencies like NIA (National Irrigation Administration),” she said.

Once these studies are finished, results will be discussed by the PSALM board, which is chaired by the Department of Finance secretary.

For the Sucat power plant, PSALM is awaiting for the environment clearance from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to proceed with the privatization originally targeted before 2016 ends, Alzona said.