PNOC-EDC president Paul Aquino said Kanematsu wrote his company a letter requesting that it be given more time to complete the technical bid for the 40-megawatt Northern Negros Geothermal Project (NNGP) and 20-MW Palinpinon optimization project .
"We (EDC board) have decided to postpone the discussion on Kanematsu’s technical bid because the proponents said they need a little more time. It would be tackled by the board on May 11 once the power firm submits its technical bid. But we still have to determine if the technical bid is acceptable," he said.
After the evaluation of the technical bid, Aquino said they will proceed with the financial aspect of the projects.
"In reviewing the technical aspect of Kanematsu’s bid, we will know how much it will cost us to undertake these projects," Aquino said.
Kanematsu is one of four bidders that were pre-qualified in March 2003. The other three pre-qualified bidders were: Marubeni Corp., and Mitsubishi Corp., and Israel’s Ormat Industries, Ltd. Only Kanematsu submitted a bid.
The bid was done for a full turnkey project to include the engineering design, supply, delivery, installation, testing and commissioning of the power facility.
The NNGP will be financed through official development assistance (ODA) from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) while Palinpinon will be funded by the Development Bank of the Philippines.
The NNGP will not only be PNOC-EDC’s first fully-owned power plant, but will also be the Philippines’ first power project to operate as a merchant plant under the new electricity environment.
Prior to the passage of the Electric Power Industry Restructuring Act (EPIRA), all independent power producers such as PNOC-EDC had to sell the power that they generate to National Power Corp. (Napocor) under a power purchase agreement (PPA).
Under the merchant plant option, the company will only have to pay wheeling charges for the use of Napocor’s transmission lines and the electric cooperatives‚ distribution lines to deliver the power to its clients.
At present, the province of Negros Occidental imports all of its power requirements from Negros Oriental.
The geothermal project, situated in Barangay Mailum, Bago City, Negros Occidental will provide power to the entire province and the nearby Panay Island.
Once operational, NNGP will be PNOC-EDC’s fifth operating geothermal field in the country. The company also operates geothermal steamfields in Leyte, Negros Oriental, Bacon-Manito in the Bicol region, and North Cotabato.
PNOC-EDC also operates geothermal power plants in Leyte and North Cotabato under a build-operate-transfer scheme.