Norwegian firm to bid for more RP power assets

MANILA, Philippines - Norwegian power firm SN Power Invest has showed continued optimism in the country’s power industry as it plans to participate in more public auctions for power assets. 

SN Power country representative Rodolfo Azanza told reporters that SN Aboitiz Power Inc., the joint venture between Aboitiz Power Corp. and SN Power is planning to bid for the 246-megawatt Angat hydropower plant.

Azanza said they are also eyeing to participate in the bidding for independent power producer (IPP) contracts, particularly in the hydropower plants.

“We will be bidding for the Angat hydroelectric power plant, and also some of the hydro IPP power contracts administration,” the SN Power official said.

Angat is one of the hydro facilities scheduled to be put in the auction block later this year. Located in San Lorenzo, Norzagaray, Bulacan, the Angat hydropower plant began commercial operations on July 1967 with the commissioning of auxiliary Units 1 and 2 and was later followed by main generating units 1 and 2 on October 1967. Two more generating units came into operations, main units 3 and 4 in August 1968.

Next month, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) will start the bidding for the IPP contracts.

Included in the list of IPP (hydropower) contracts that would be sold are the Casecnan multi-purpose hydro of the National Irrigation Administration in Nueva Ecija, the 340-MW San Roque multi-purpose hydro of Marubeni/Sithe in Pangasinan and the 70-MW Bakun hydro of Aboitiz Equity Ventures in Ilocos Sur.

He said they are also looking at the possibility of putting up new hydropower projects.

“Greenfield hydropower projects are also of interest to SN Power, but at this point we are still primarily focused on the Napocor hydropower assets being privatized by PSALM,” he said. At present, SN Power is eyeing about nine new projects. 

SN Power currently owns and operates 14 hydropower plants in various countries in Asia and Latin America. 

“We are for now primarily focused on the hydropower opportunities in the Philippines. Going into a wind power project or other renewable projects in the Philippines has yet to be decided,” Azanza said.

Aside from hydro, SN Power is also into wind power development. 

It currently has a wind project in Chile, the 47-MW Totoral wind farm at the Coquimbo Region in Chile.