Phl coal projects attract few bidders

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Only nine companies have applied to develop coal sources in the Philippines, much lower compared to previous contracting round, the Department of Energy (DOE) said today.

The department said that of the nine applications received for the Philippine Energy Contracting Round V (PECR 5) on Friday, one was disqualified after the preliminary examination of documents that the bidders submitted.

Nenito Jariel Jr., division chief of DOE's Coal and Nuclear Management Division, acknowledged that there was a low turn-out of applications for the PECR 5 for coal, attributing it to the current market price of the product, which is at P1,978-P2,384 ($44.45 - S53.57) per metric ton (mt).

"If compared during the last contracting round, (PECR 4, 2012) we received a total of 69 coal applications since coal prices were higher with amounts ranging from P2,610-3,210/mt in 2011 and P1, 783-P2,451/mt in 2013," he said.

The eight successful applications would be evaluated thoroughly by the Financial and Legal Services and the Coal Applications Technical Group of the DOE, the official added.

The coal projects that the companies wanted to develop are located in southern provinces of Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga del Norte.