10 groups to bid for Tiwi-Makban geothermal plant

At least 10 groups have expressed interest to participate in the bidding for the 747.53-megawatt (mw) Tiwi-Makban geothermal complex, a ranking Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) official said.

PSALM vice president for asset management and electricity trading Froilan Tampinco said they are hopeful the bidding for the Tiwi and Makban geothermal facilities will be successful.

According to Tampinco, out of the 10 interested bidders, five are foreign firms and five are local.

PSALM, an entity tasked to handle the privatization of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) assets, has set the bidding date for the geothermal complex on June 4.

Earlier reports indicated that First Gen Corp. and PNOC-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC), both majority-owned by the Lopez group, have submitted interests to bid for the geothermal assets.

The Aboitiz group, through its power generation arm Aboitiz Power Corp., had also earlier intended to bid for Tiwi-Makban.

The complex, PSALM said, will be sold on an “as is, where is” basis, structures and improvements, spare parts, and general plant equipment of the Tiwi and Makban power plants.

PSALM will hold a pre-bid conference for interested bidders on April 2, 2008 at its Makati City office.

Located in Tiwi, Albay province, the Tiwi geothermal power plant complex consists of three plants, namely, Plant A with two 60-mw units, Plant B with two 55-mw units, and Plant C with two 57-mw units. Plant B’s Unit 4 was retired or decommissioned in 2003.

The Makban plant complex in Laguna and Batangas consists of Plants A and B with two 63-mw units each, Plant C with two 55-mw units, Plants D and E with two 20-mw units each, and a binary plant with five 3-mw and one 0.73-mw units.