Sale of Sucat power plant deferred anew by PSALM

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) has moved back anew the sale of Sucat power plant in the latter part of 2004, a company official said.

In an interview, PSALM vice president Froilan Tampinco said the PSALM board agreed to move the schedule of the sale of 600-megawatt (MW) Sucat to give ample time to thresh out some issues before the actual sale of the said asset.

The Sucat power plant, which is crucial in the development of the country’s natural gas industry, was originally scheduled to be sold in the first quarter of this year.

In a consultation late last year with the PSALM board, Tampinco said the National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordinating Council (NEDA-ICC) has raised a number of questions about the proposed sale of Sucat power plant.

"There are some queries from NEDA-ICC that need to be addressed and answered. We have to submit a special package for the sale of Sucat power facility," he said.

Among the issues that need to be resolved are: the transfer of the purchase power agreement (PPA) of San Pascual power plant to Sucat; the resolution of the issue on gas sale purchase agreement and the signing of the agreement on the gas pipeline project.

The Sucat diesel-fired power plant was decommissioned years ago. With the advent of natural gas industry in the country, Sucat is to be converted into a gas-fired facility and is envisioned to become the anchor load that would justify the construction of a $100 million Bataan-Manila (Batman I) gas pipeline.

As this developed, sources privy to the privatization of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) said most of the big ticket items will likely be sold in the latter part of process.

According to the sources, the Napocor privatization is expected to take at least two to three years.

The sources said this strategy may be in anticipation of possible changes in policies and rules in case a new administration comes in after the May 2004 elections.

"We can not assure that there will be no changes in some policies or in the privatization procedures especially if there will be changes in some policies or in the privatization procedures especially if there will be change in administration. But we hope that the privatization process will continue and will not be affected," the sources said. – Donnabelle Gatdula