PSALM to sell Leyte geothermal plants in tranches

MANILA, Philippines - The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) is planning to sell the contracted capacity of the 640-megawatt (MW) Unified Leyte geothermal power plants in tranches this year.

PSALM said it plans to split the capacities of the Unified Leyte geothermal power contracts due to investor concerns on the market cap for the Visayas.

“I will break (the contracts) into two or three,” said Emmanuel Ledesma, PSALM president. The bidding rules indicate that capacities will be divided 60 - 40, which means the capacities will be bid out at 384 MW and 255 MW, respectively.

At least four investor groups signified interest when government announced the bidding of the contracted capacity of the Unified Leyte geothermal power plants in June last year.

However, PSALM postponed the bidding “to give time for the new administration to review the privatization process and at the same time, address bidders concerns.”

The administrator of the Unified Leyte power plants will manage the contracted annual energy output from the power purchase agreements between National Power Corp. (Napocor) and Energy Development Co. These contracts will expire in 2025 and 2026.

ERC is the owner of the steam plants, which include the 125-MW Upper Mahiyao, 232-MW Malitbog, 180-MW Mahanagdong, and 51-MW optimization plants.

Among the parties that earlier expressed interest to participate in the contract bidding were Aboitiz Power Corp., Pacifica Inc. of the Romero Group and First Gen Corp., the parent firm of ERC.