3 foreign, 8 local firms to bid for Ambuklao power plant

Eleven groups have informed the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) that they would bid for the 175-megawatt (MW) Ambuklao hydro-power plant, a PSALM official said yesterday.

PSALM vice president for asset management and electricity trading Froilan Tampinco said of the 11 prospective bidders, three are foreign groups and eight are local firms.

Tampinco said they would bid out the hydro power facility on Nov. 28 as scheduled.

Tampinco said they have moved the expected deadline for the pre-bidding process by another week as per request of the bidders.

But the PSALM official pointed out that the extension may only apply on the bidding process but not on the bidding proper.

“Extension of the bid date is non-negotiable.  We may agree on extensions of certain deadlines prior to bid date,” he said.

In the last pre-bidding process of Ambuklao, some prospective bidders have raised the issue of lack of time for them to form their respective consortia to bid for the said hydro power assets.

The prospective bidders assured that should there be any extensions on some areas of the bidding procedure for Ambuklao, the bidding date will not be affected.

PSALM wants interested parties to complete the incorporation of their corporate vehicles to bid for Ambuklao in the first week of this month.

But the bidders argue that they may need more time to meet the PSALM’s requirement.

The incorporation of these companies at the Securities and Exchange Commission is necessary to enable the winning bidder to take over the asset.

Among the firms that participated in the pre-bid conference  include Itogon Power, Ramcar Inc., Sta. Clara Power,  AES Ambuklao and Binga Pte Ltd, First Gen Northern Energy, Marubeni Philippines, Kansai Electric Power, SN Aboitiz Power, Suez Tractebel and State Investment Trust Inc.