Government reopens bidding for CBK complex

MANILA, Philippines — The government is once again soliciting bids for the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) hydropower complex in Laguna following a previous failed attempt to privatize the asset.

In an invitation to bid, state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) called on interested parties to join the bidding for the 797-megawatt complex.

PSALM said the project is being privatized on an “as is, where is” basis, which means the buyer must accept the property in its current condition and at its present location.

The proposal submission date is scheduled on June 16.

To join the bidding war, interested parties must pay a non-refundable fee of P800,000 and submit the required participation documents, such as a letter of consent and a confidentiality agreement.

Submission of these documents can be made until May 30.

Upon payment of the participation fee and submission of the necessary documents, an interested party will be given “immediate access” to the virtual data room containing the bidding package, PSALM said.

The CBK complex, the only operating pumped-storage hydro facility in the country, was supposed to be the major privatization of PSALM last year.

The state firm, however, scrapped the previous auction process in an effort to “optimize the assets to be privatized and give maximum value to its stakeholders.”

“PSALM hopes to attract significant interest from industry players and invite robust participation from potential bidders,” PSALM said in February.

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, who chairs the PSALM Board, was expecting to generate up to P100 billion from the CBK privatization to help plug the deficit of the cash-strapped state firm.