TransCo sells P152-M worth of assets in VisMin

The National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) has divested P152 million worth of sub-transmission assets (STA) in Visayas and Mindanao, a ranking company official said.

TransCo president Alan Ortiz said separate STA divestment contracts were given with the Visayan Electric Co.-Cebu I Electric Cooperative Inc. (Veco-Cebeco) consortium, Cebu 2 Electric Cooperative, and Cotabato Light and Power Co. (CLPC).

Ortiz said the latest contracts brought to 32 the number of divestment deals TransCo has signed with distribution utilities nationwide. TransCo has now sold some P1.87 billion worth of STAs.

"We are pursuing the mandate of EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) with even more vigor. If things proceed as planned, we will reach P2 billion by end of August and surpass the P2.4 billion mark by yearend. All proceeds will go to the National Treasury," Ortiz said.

The state-owned firm signed a P68.8 million deal with the Veco-Cebeco consortium for the sale of the Naga-Sobonga-Dumanjug and the Sibonga-Alcoy 69-kV lines. Combined, the two lines span 82.13 circuit-kilometers (ckt-kms) with 516 structures. The deal was the first sale to a consortium of distribution utilities.

TransCo also sold the Compostela-Danao, Danao-Lugo and Lugo-Medellin 69-kV lines covering 74.82 ckt-kms with 564 structures to Cebu 2 Electric Cooperative for P61.3-million.

The third contract involved the sale of the Tacurong-Cotabato-Nuling 69-kV line spanning 18.5 ckt-kms with 141 structures to CLPC for P21.8 million. It was the 10th sale contract with a distribution utility (DU) in Mindanao.

Ortiz said of the 107 DUs connected to TransCo, 75 have expressed interest in buying TransCo’s sub-transmission assets. However, at present, only around 60 are considered financially and technically capable of acquiring these assets.

"With 32 contracts already signed, we have now achieved over half of our target. We will be signing many more contracts in the months ahead," Ortiz added.