No delay in Napocor sale — Camacho

Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho has given his assurance that the privatization of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) will go on as scheduled in the first half next year.

"By the end of the year, we are hoping that we would be able to finish the privatization plan of Napocor and at the same time finalize the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9136 (Electric Power Industry Reform Act)," Camacho told reporters recently.

He said they do not expect any delays unless the market is weak.

"Market conditions will determine whether we can go ahead with the privatization right away. But at the very least we would be ready by the first quarter. By that time, we would be ready with the privatization plan and the IRR, we will just have to wait for the market conditions to stabilize," he said.

Camacho said the privatization process was set 18 months after the signing of the EIRA in June this year. Prior to the signing of the EIRA, he said they were thinking of privatizing Napocor’s assets in 2003 and 2004.

He lauded the Department of Energy (DOE) for its efforts to push for the program. "In fairness to (Energy) Secretary Vince (Perez), he has been pushing everybody to get this done, right away. So all the preparatory work are being done in very expeditious way," he said.

He said there are a number of interested bidders for the transmission assets of Napocor, the country’s largest power generation firm. Among those which have expressed an interest to buy the transmission assets of Napocor are: National Grid Plc. of the United Kingdom, Electricite de France.

Other Japanese transco companies have also indicated keen interest to participate in the transco bidding. These are: Kyushu Corp. and Energy Power Development Corporation of Japan.

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), an entity created to handle the Napocor privatization, is expecting to generate some $2.7 billion from the sale of the transmission assets.