4 foreign firms pre-qualify for PNOC-EDC geothermal project

Four foreign firms have been pre-qualified to bid for the construction of a 40-MW geothermal plant in Negros Occidental, the Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC) said yesterday.

The four are: Marubeni Corp., Kanematsu Corp., Mitsubishi Corp. and Ormat Industries Ltd.

EDC chairman and president Sergio Apostol said the four will be issued bidding documents as soon as the JapanBank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for the Northern Negros Geothermal project (NNGP) earlier.

"It is critical that we get the construction of the power plant going this year," Apostol said. The EDC chief has expressed optimism that the project will be completed as scheduled.

"NNGP is programmed to come on stream in 2004 and all the other components – the steam field, the pipeline network, transmission system are on schedule and nearing completion."

Apostol said the bidding which is expected to be completed in October, will be for a full turnkey project to include engineering design, supply, delivery, installation, testing and commissioning of the power facility.

Earlier this year, at least six firms signified interest and submitted themselves to evaluation based on their experience, personnel capabilities, equipment, financial standing and track record.

According to Apostol, the NNGP will not only be EDC’s first fully-owned power plant but will also be the country’s first facility to operate as a merchant plant under the restructured electricity environment.

Under the merchant plant option, EDC will set power directly to consumers and will only have to pay wheeling charges for the use of transmission and distribution lines.

"I am confident that we will be able to offer competitive rates from our NNGP," Apostol said. Apostol said once operational, NNGP will be EDC’s 5th geothermal facility in the country.

At present, EDC accounts for 60 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity spread out in its fields in Leyte, Negros Oriental, Albay-Sorsogon and North Cotabato.