3 more foreign firms join bidding for Masinloc plant

Three more foreign power firms have signified interest in bidding for the 600-megawatt (MW) Masinloc coal-fired power plant in Zambales, industry sources revealed yesterday.

YNN of Australia, Malaysia’s YTL Power Generation Bhd. and Japan’s Marubeni Corp. have reportedly joined the pre-bid conference conducted by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) the other day.

Aside from these three international power companies, sources said Mirant Corp. and Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) are also among the foreign firms that have indicated "very keen interest" to bid for Masinloc. "These companies were considered serious in their bid for Masinloc," the sources said.

PSALM has scheduled the bidding proper of Masinloc on Oct. 27 this year after the pre-bid conference last Sept. 1.

YNN is one of the largest oil, power and gas exploration firms in Australia while YTL Power owns and operates a total capacity of 1,212-MW in Malaysia.

Marubeni, for its part, already has various exposures in the Philippine power sector. It is involved in the 20-MW geothermal project in Mt. Apo, Palinpinon geothermal, and the 330-MW Tiwi. It also signified interest to bid for wind power projects of the PNOC-Energy Development Corp.

Mirant, on the other hand, has been in the power generation business in the country through a wholly-owned subsidiary Mirant Philippines Inc. It owns more than 2,200 MW installed generating capacity in the Philippines. It operates the 735-MW Pagbilao coal-fired plant, the 1,200-MW Sual coal-fired power plant, the 7.5-MW and 5-MW diesel-fired power plants in Nabas and New Washington in Boracay, the 10-MW diesel-fired plant in Iloilo, the 72-MW Panay Power Corp., and the 144-MW Toledo power plant in Cebu.

Kepco, meanwhile, operates the 1,200-MW Kepco Ilijan Corp. and the 300-MW Malaya I and II. It plans to put up a 200-MW coal-fired facility in Cebu.

PSALM said there were 22 firms that have submitted letters of intent (LOI) for the Masinloc bidding but only 18 joined in the pre-bidding process.

Among the local groups that expressed interest in Masinloc are: First Gas Power Corp., Aboitiz Power Corp. and Trans-Asia Power Generation Corp.

During the pre-bid conference, the prospective foreign bidders have raised concern on the so-called right-to-match provision in the bidding wherein the bid made by a winning foreign group could be matched by a local group.

According to sources, the prospective bidders also questioned the PSALM’s decision not to put a floor price on the said asset.

The privatization plan for Masinloc will allow the winning bidder to pay 40-percent upfront cash and 60 percent through a deferred payment scheme for a period of seven years. The winning bidder will have an option to further lower its cash outlay provided it will expand the existing capacity of the plant.