PSALM defers power barge bidding

MANILA, Philippines - State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) postponed Wednesday’s bidding for the sale of four power barges.

The new bidding schedule, which was prompted by ongoing concerns on the terms, has been reset today.

“PSALM has opted to postpone the bidding of the Power Barges 101 to 104 to Aug. 17 to give more time to address some issued raised by the (PSALM) board,” PSALM president and CEO Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr. said in a text message.

However, Ledesma refused to elaborate on the ongoing issues.

Last month, four investor groups expressed interest in the sale of PB 101, 102, 103 and 104. Three of the four prospective bidders participated in PSALM’s previous bidding activities.

In May, auction for the power barges - the firm’s first privatization effort this year - failed as only one of seven qualified bidders submitted an offer.

Only ACTA Power Corp., a joint venture between AC Energy Holdings Inc. of Ayala Corp. and Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. of the Phinma Group, submitted its bid.

The power barges, which are movable and can be relocated anywhere with adequate mooring structures, should be transferred from Visayas to Mindanao augment the power supply in the region.

Investors earlier expressed concerns that Mindanao consumers will not support a power generation rate that will make the operation of the barges viable.

Should the second round of bidding fails, PSALM said it has the option to enter into a negotiated sale.

Designed as base-load plants, PB 101, 102, 103 and 104 are nominal 32-megawatt (MW) barge-mounted, bunker-fired diesel generating power stations that consist of four identical Hitachi-Sulzer diesel generator units rated at eight MW each.

The new schedule will coincide with Friday’s bidding for the contract to operate the 650-MW Malaya thermal power plant located in Pililla, Rizal.

The state-owned firm has allotted as much as P555.828 million of its 2013 corporate operating budget to pay the contract.

PSALM, formed by the 2001 Electric Power Industry Reform Act, is the state firm in charge of privatizing government power assets as well as managing National Power Corp.’s power plants and debt. It buys the fuel requirements of state-owned power assets while awaiting privatization.