EDC to award Negros power deal

The PNOC-Energy Development Corp. (EDC), the geothermal unit of the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC), expects to award the contract for the 40-MW Northern Negros Geothermal Project (NNGP) before July 28.

"We are trying our best if we can meet our target which is to award the contract before the State of the Nation Address of President Arroyo on July 28," EDC chairman and president Sergio Apostol said in an interview. He said they are currently reviewing the technical and financial bid of Kanematsu Corp. of Japan.

Kanematsu is one of the four potential bidders which were pre-qualified last March. The other three pre-qualified bidders were: Marubeni Corp., and Mitsubishi Corp., and Israel’s Ormat Industries, Ltd.

"Only Kanematsu submitted its bid. We are checking if Kanematsu’s technical and financial bid is acceptable," he said.

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

He said the project will be financed through the official development assistance (ODA) from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).