Lopez, SMC lead bidders for 200-MW coal project

By Riza Lozada

Twelve power consortia, led by the Lopez group and San Miguel Corp. (SMC), expressed interest to bid for the contract to become the independent power producer administrator (Ippa) of the 200-megawatt (MW) Mindanao coal-fired thermal power plant.

State holding firm Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) said the groups include Conal Holdings Corp., FDC Davao del Norte Power Corp, FirstGen Northern Power Corp., GDF Suez Energy Philippines Inc., Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd., Meralco Powergen Corp., Nexif Pte Ltd., SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., SPC Power Corp., Team (Philippines) Energy Corp., Therma Southern Mindanao Inc. (TSMI) and Vivant Energy Corp.

PSALM said the prospective bidders complied with the initial requirements including the payment of the nonrefundable participation fee and execution of a confidentiality agreement and undertaking with PSALM.

“We are delighted with the number of prospective bidders, which is more than our first Ippa bidding for the Mindanao region—that of the Mindanao I and II (Mt. Apo 1 and 2) Geothermal Power Plants. We hope that this one will likewise be a successful undertaking,” PSALM president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. said.

PSALM will conduct the pre-bid conference for the prospective bidders on May 6 and the bidding will be held on September 23.

Located in Misamis Oriental province, the Mindanao coal plant was constructed in 2006 under a 25-year Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT)—Power Purchase Agreement scheme, which ends in 2031.