Casecnan hydro plant turned over to First Gen

MANILA, Philippines — Lopez-led First Gen Corp., through its subsidiary Fresh River Lakes Corp. (FRLC), is now officially the owner of the Casecnan Hydroelectric Power Plant in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija.

The state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said they have turned over ownership of the 165-megawatt Casecnan power plant to First Gen.

Building a hydro plant would have been costly and would have lasted several years of planning, designing, permitting and construction, said First Gen SVP and Dennis Gonzales. “Our winning offer, therefore, helped the company save on cost and precious time to construct a similar hydro project.

FRLC bagged the Casecnan plant with a $526 million offer at an auction last year by PSALM.

Aside from the hydroelectric plant, First Gen also acquired the switchyard, the administration complex, guest house and adjacent roads from the government.

Meanwhile, the government through NIA and PSALM, assumed ownership of non-power components of Casecnan plant such as the irrigation facilities, their weir and the tunnel.

Earlier this month, the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) cleared the acquisition of FRLC of the Casecnan power plant.

The PCC made the go-signal to Fresh River to take over Casecnan “seeing that the transaction would not result in substantial lessening of competition in the relevant markets.”