Napocor to put newly conditioned 600-MW Calaca power plant onstream

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) will put the newly-conditioned 600-megawatt (MW) Calaca coal-fired power plant in Batangas onstream by tomorrow in preparation for the power plant’s privatization on May 18.

Napocor shut down Calaca’s operations last January and undertook a 75-day thorough maintenance process for the plant.

Calaca is the second big coal-fired power plant to be auctioned off by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) after the successful bidding of the 600-MW Masinloc power facility in Zambales last December.

PSALM, a state entity created under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, is tasked to handle the finances and privatization of Napocor’s assets.

Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla said PSALM will accept bids for Calaca until May 18.  Lotilla is the concurrent chairman of PSALM’s privatization, bids and awards committee.

A pre-bid conference was held last April 14 for interested bidders, who may also undertake due diligence audit of the power plant until May 13. 

But industry sources said some prospective bidders for the power facility have requested PSALM to extend the bidding for at least a month.

At least nine local and foreign firms have expressed interest to bid for Calaca after PSALM fielded out the announcement of the bidding schedule for the power plant.

"This only goes to show that our assets still have an appeal to investors," PSALM vice president for asset disposal Froilan Tampinco said. "It also indicates that the government’s privatization plans are moving, contrary to what many critics are claiming."

If the bidding for Calaca turns out successful, this will be the first major power plant sold in 2005.

During the first few months of the year, PSALM modified its selling strategy by prioritizing the privatization of decommissioned plants like Manila Thermal and the equipment and components of the Bataan Thermal power plant in Limay, Bataan.

Located along the shoreline of Balayan Bay some 115 kilometers south of Manila, the Calaca coal-fired facility consists of two units with a generating capacity of 300 MW each.  Unit 1 was commissioned in 1984 while Unit 2 was completed 11 years later in 1995.

Last year, Calaca accounted for 2,280 gigawatthours or 5.5 percent of Napocor’s gross generation of 41,548 gwh. 

Calaca reported a capacity factor of 43.27 percent, slightly higher than the 2003 figure of 42.95 percent, and improved forced outage rate of 9.45 percent, down from the year-ago level of 14.84 percent.