PSALM expects to close sale of Angat plant

MANILA, Philippines - The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), the government agency tasked to privatize state-owned power assets, expects to close the sale of the Angat hydroelectric power plant in Bulacan soon, its top official said.

PSALM president Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. said the approval of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for the registration of K-Water’s loans, the last hurdle to the closing of the sale.

PSALM sold the 218-megawatt power plant to K-Water Resources Corp. of Korea, which is working on securing a $500-million bridge loan from the Korean Exim Bank for the takeover.

“BSP approval has already been issued and with that, we are optimistic that the closing of sale for Angat will occur very soon,” Ledesma said.

The BSP manages the country’s external debt.

PSALM issued the certificate of effectivity (COE) to K-Water in September last year and had targeted to close the sale within 270 days from the issuance of the COE. It conducted a bidding for the $440.88 million facility in 2010.

K-Water topped the bidding but was unable to take over the plant due to thorny issues including court hurdles raised by non-government organizations (NGO) on the foreign takeover of a power asset.