MANILA, Philippines — State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) has received interest from 10 companies for the sale of the 650-megawatt (MW) Malaya Thermal Power Plant (TPP).
“For Malaya, we now have 10 registered bidders because of the addition of Phinma (Energy Corp.), STX (Marine Service Co. Ltd.), AC Energy and SMC Global (Power Holdings Corp.),” PSALM president and CEO Irene Joy Besido-Garcia said.
AC Energy Inc. president and chief executive officer Eric Francia confirmed that they have bought bid documents for the asset sale.
“We’re looking at it. But I think more are interested since government changed the terms,” he said.
In March 2017, AC Energy and Phinma Energy, along with APT Global Inc. and Riverbend Consolidated Mining Corp., previously made offers for the Malaya plant. The facility was supposed to be sold on an “as is, where is” basis.
However, the privatization schedule was deferred since the Department of Energy (DOE) proposed to have it converted into a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant.
The government, however, changed its metrics for the sale of the asset. This time, it will be sold again on an “as is, where is” basis and will no longer be designated as a must-run unit.
PSALM opened its doors for Letters of Interest (LOIs) from interested parties from Oct. 5 until Nov. 19.
Only those who have submitted LOIs will be allowed to participate in the privatization of the assets. It has set the bid opening on Dec. 14.
The Malaya TPP was designated as a must run unit (MRU) by the DOE to address supply deficiency when operating power plants in the grid suddenly bog down or become unavailable.