Korean firm bags O&M contract for Malaya plant

MANILA, Philippines - STX Marine Service Co. Ltd., a Korean firm, won the bidding to operate and maintain the 650-megawatt Malaya Thermal Power Plant in Rizal, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) president Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. said yesterday.

“STX Marine submitted the lowest bid at P302 million as against SPC’s bid of P428 million,” Ledesma said.

SPC Power Corp. has bagged the yearly contract since 2011 but lost to STX Marine this year. The two companies are the only bidders that participated in the auction held last week for a one-year Operation and Maintenance Service Contract (OMSC) for the Malaya plant.

The awarding will be made after completion of the post qualification of the lowest bidder, a process that could be completed before the expiration of the existing operation and maintenance contract for the Malaya plant in October, Ledesma added.

The Malaya Thermal Plant consists of one 300-MW unit with a once-through type boiler and a 350-MW unit with a conventional boiler.

Ledesman, meanwhile, said PSALM would pursue to bid the rehabilitation of the plant’s Unit 1 as part of government efforts to avert a looming power shortage next year.

PSALM board is looking at options for the plant’s Unit 1.

“We hope to finalize this soon in a board meeting,” he said.

The Philippines will need 9,011 megawatts of power next year, higher than this year’s demand of 8,717 MW on the back of the projected growth in the economy.

A declaration of a state of emergency in the power sector would give the government the authority to put up additional generation capacity.

Under the plan, the government through PSALM will rent diesel-fired power facilities on short-term contracts of two years if possible.