$1-b Masinloc expansion
AES Philippines, the winning bidder of the 600-megawatt Masinloc coal plant facility, is looking at investing another $1 billion to expand the capacity of the Zambales plant by another 600 MW, a company official said.
“We are intending to expand and double Masinloc’s capacity as soon as we complete the acquisition. We may spend up to another $1 billion,” Matthew Bartley, AES Philippines president and chief executive, told reporters.
Bartley said AES, one of the US’ biggest power industry players, was looking at a “greenfield” or an entirely new power project to meet the growing electricity demand in the Philippines.
He said AES might also participate in the bidding of the generation assets of National Power Corp. set to be auctioned by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.
“We are a global company. We invest in whatever makes business sense. We may look at some hydro assets,” Bartley said.
Bartley said the company was focusing on closing the Masinloc plant acquisition. AES won the bidding with a bid of $930 million.
“We are hoping to get all the approvals [from PSALM] on the closing then start construction [of the expansion],” he said.
Bartley said the company hoped to close the transaction in the first quarter of 2008 or earlier.
AES is expected to come up with the 40 percent upfront payment as a pre-condition to the closing of the sale transaction.
Bartley said the company was working with several lending institutions, including International Finance Corp., to partly fund the acquisition.
“We are talking with international lenders, including IFC and several other multilaterals,” the AES official said.
IFC has expressed interest to provide up to $275 million to AES, including a possible equity investment.
AES is also working out a similar financing arrangement with the Development Bank of the Philippines.
The total acquisition cost of the Masinloc facility is estimated at approximately $1.1 billion, including funding for the debt service reserve account, transaction costs, refurbishment works and initial working capital needs.
The Masinloc plant is located about 250 kilometers northwest of Metro Manila, covering about 137 hectares, including 11 hectares of reclaimed land.
The power plant was designed and commissioned in 1998 as a two-unit, 600-MW plant. The plant utilizes refined coal from Australia, China, Indonesia and occasionally local coal.
AES is a leading global power developer and operator in the world. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company has 13 regulated utilities and 121 generation facilities, with total generation capacity of around 43,000 MW.
By Alena Mae S. Flores - Manila Standard Today
“We are intending to expand and double Masinloc’s capacity as soon as we complete the acquisition. We may spend up to another $1 billion,” Matthew Bartley, AES Philippines president and chief executive, told reporters.
Bartley said AES, one of the US’ biggest power industry players, was looking at a “greenfield” or an entirely new power project to meet the growing electricity demand in the Philippines.
He said AES might also participate in the bidding of the generation assets of National Power Corp. set to be auctioned by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.
“We are a global company. We invest in whatever makes business sense. We may look at some hydro assets,” Bartley said.
Bartley said the company was focusing on closing the Masinloc plant acquisition. AES won the bidding with a bid of $930 million.
“We are hoping to get all the approvals [from PSALM] on the closing then start construction [of the expansion],” he said.
Bartley said the company hoped to close the transaction in the first quarter of 2008 or earlier.
AES is expected to come up with the 40 percent upfront payment as a pre-condition to the closing of the sale transaction.
Bartley said the company was working with several lending institutions, including International Finance Corp., to partly fund the acquisition.
“We are talking with international lenders, including IFC and several other multilaterals,” the AES official said.
IFC has expressed interest to provide up to $275 million to AES, including a possible equity investment.
AES is also working out a similar financing arrangement with the Development Bank of the Philippines.
The total acquisition cost of the Masinloc facility is estimated at approximately $1.1 billion, including funding for the debt service reserve account, transaction costs, refurbishment works and initial working capital needs.
The Masinloc plant is located about 250 kilometers northwest of Metro Manila, covering about 137 hectares, including 11 hectares of reclaimed land.
The power plant was designed and commissioned in 1998 as a two-unit, 600-MW plant. The plant utilizes refined coal from Australia, China, Indonesia and occasionally local coal.
AES is a leading global power developer and operator in the world. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company has 13 regulated utilities and 121 generation facilities, with total generation capacity of around 43,000 MW.
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