New Masinloc auction set in Q1
By Lawrence Agcaoili - Manila Standard Today
The government is set to rebid the 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Masinloc, Zambales, toward the end of this year or the first quarter of next year once contentious issues are resolved, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said yesterday.
“We are still hopeful that we can achieve something within the year for Masinloc but not later than the first quarter of next year,” Teves told reporters in a press conference.
The board of Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm), headed by Teves as chairman, has decided to rebid the power plant after YNN Pacific Holdings and Malaysian partner Ranhill Power Bhd failed to pursue the $562 million purchase of the Masinloc power plant in Zambales.
The consortium failed to deliver the upfront payment of $227.5 million for the coal-fired power plant in June 30 paving the way for the official termination of the contract in Aug. 6. The $14 million performance bond of the buyer was forfeited in favor of the government.
Teves said it was important to address several issues in the auction, including the supply contract to ensure a market for the output of the power plant up for sale.
“We have learned from the Masinloc deal and one of the bone of contention is really to have a supply contract. Perhaps this will increase the interest of foreign investors if there is a way we can address this issue of the supply contract,” the finance chief said.
YNN Pacific edged Lopez-controlled First Generation Holdings in a bidding in December 2004. First Gen submitted a bid of $274.85 million, way below the floor price of $388 million set by the government.
The consortium later backed out of the contract when it failed to secure a reliable supply contract for the plant’s output. It also ignored the government’s wholesale electricity spot market as an alternative means to sell the plant’s output.
Teves said the government had yet to finalize details of the rebid, including the auction date and bid price.
“We haven’t gone into those details yet but we will be working on them,” he said.
He added that the government had also agreed to accelerate the privatization of the state-run National Power Corp. and National Transmission Corp. (Transco).
“We had a meeting with the Transco board to facilitate the sale but we want to accelerate the privatization process in the private sector first. We realize that this has not been very successful but we will try to do something about it in the months to come,” he said.
Multilateral lending agencies led by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Japan Bank for International Cooperation are closely monitoring the privatization of Napocor.
The government is set to rebid the 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Masinloc, Zambales, toward the end of this year or the first quarter of next year once contentious issues are resolved, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said yesterday.
“We are still hopeful that we can achieve something within the year for Masinloc but not later than the first quarter of next year,” Teves told reporters in a press conference.
The board of Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm), headed by Teves as chairman, has decided to rebid the power plant after YNN Pacific Holdings and Malaysian partner Ranhill Power Bhd failed to pursue the $562 million purchase of the Masinloc power plant in Zambales.
The consortium failed to deliver the upfront payment of $227.5 million for the coal-fired power plant in June 30 paving the way for the official termination of the contract in Aug. 6. The $14 million performance bond of the buyer was forfeited in favor of the government.
Teves said it was important to address several issues in the auction, including the supply contract to ensure a market for the output of the power plant up for sale.
“We have learned from the Masinloc deal and one of the bone of contention is really to have a supply contract. Perhaps this will increase the interest of foreign investors if there is a way we can address this issue of the supply contract,” the finance chief said.
YNN Pacific edged Lopez-controlled First Generation Holdings in a bidding in December 2004. First Gen submitted a bid of $274.85 million, way below the floor price of $388 million set by the government.
The consortium later backed out of the contract when it failed to secure a reliable supply contract for the plant’s output. It also ignored the government’s wholesale electricity spot market as an alternative means to sell the plant’s output.
Teves said the government had yet to finalize details of the rebid, including the auction date and bid price.
“We haven’t gone into those details yet but we will be working on them,” he said.
He added that the government had also agreed to accelerate the privatization of the state-run National Power Corp. and National Transmission Corp. (Transco).
“We had a meeting with the Transco board to facilitate the sale but we want to accelerate the privatization process in the private sector first. We realize that this has not been very successful but we will try to do something about it in the months to come,” he said.
Multilateral lending agencies led by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Japan Bank for International Cooperation are closely monitoring the privatization of Napocor.
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
7:05 AM
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