SPC Power bags two Visayas-based diesel power plants for $5.86M

SPC Power Corp. (SPC), formerly Salcon Power Corp., won in yesterday’s bidding for the 146.5-megawatt (MW) Panay and 22-MW Bohol diesel power plants the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said.

The state-run agency overseeing the sale of government’s power assets said SPC outbid two other parties after submitting the highest offer of $5.86 million.

The other bidders were Therma Power-Visayas, a Philippine corporation owned by Aboitiz Power Corp., and Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. of Philippine Investment Management Inc. (Phinma).

With the successful privatization of the Panay and Bohol plants, PSALM has breached the 70-percent privatization threshold for the generation plants of the National Power Corp.(Napocor) in Luzon and the Visayas, one of the requirements for the implementation of open access and retail competition.

SPC was organized in 1994. It won the contract for Napocor’s 203.8-MW Naga power plant complex in Cebu under a rehabilitation, operation, maintenance and management (ROMM) agreement.

Aiming to expand its involvement in power related projects in the Philippines, SPC has entered into joint ventures, has acquired equity interest, and has signed technical services agreements.

SPC’s joint venture projects are part of its strategy to increase its involvement in the power sector. SPC’s technical services agreements, on the other hand, have helped the company realize its strategy of providing technical, operational, and management services to private power plant operators and electric distributors.

The company’s expansion plans are supported by Salcon Philippines Inc. and Salcon Ltd. of Singapore, which is engaged in the development of water treatment plants, waste water treatment plants, palm oil mills and liquid storage tanks.

Meanwhile, PSALM reported it received yesterday a temporary restraining order (TRO) seeking to defer the bidding for the Bohol plant upon the petition of Tagbilaran Mayor Dan Neri Lim. The TRO was issued by Judge Venancio Amila of the Regional Trial Court of Bohol.