PSALM sets sale anew of Malaya power plant

MANILA, Philippines — The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) has set the sale of the 650-megawatt (MW) Malaya Thermal Power Plant (TTP) in April.

PSALM has published an invitation to bid to start the third round of bidding for the Malaya TTP Monday.

It gave interested parties until March 12 to submit letters of interest (LOIs) to join the privatization program.

“Only parties who submitted LOI and who have been issued PSALM’s bidding package will be allowed to participate in the privatization of the assets,” PSALM said.

The agency said it would hold a pre-bid conference on Feb. 13 to solicit any comments and concerns of interested bidders regarding the bidding requirements and asset sale provisions.

Meanwhile, PSALM has set the bid opening on April 15.

PSALM is determined to privatize the asset, which is sold on an “as-is-where-is” basis, by taking the necessary steps to adjust the minimum bid price (MBP).

It has also conducted valuation studies on MTPP and its underlying land in determining the reserve bid price.

Earlier, PSALM asked the Commission on Audit (COA) to allow it to lower the price of Malaya (TPP) after two rounds of failed bidding.

The current MBP of the asset, according to COA, is P4.48 billion. However, interested bidders found the price too steep since the power plant is already old.

The Malaya TPP currently has two units but only Unit 2 is working.

In a text message, PSALM president and chief executive officer Irene Besido-Garcia said the agency decided to start the third round of bidding for Malaya since the privatization process is long, and that there is time before the setting of the MBP.

The plant, which currently runs on diesel, was designated as a must-run unit (MRU) to address supply deficiency when operating power plants in the grid suddenly bog down or become unavailable.

It will operate as an MRU until the DOE finalizes its privatization schedule.

Located in Pililia, Rizal, the plant consists of a 300-MW unit with a once-through type boiler and a 350-MW unit fitted with a conventional boiler.

It was last rehabilitated in 1995 by Korea Electric Power Corp. under a 15-year rehabilitate-operate-manage-maintain agreement.