K-Water indicates willingness to pay full amount for Angat

Manila Bulletin 
Myrna M. Velasco 
Published: April 23, 2013 

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) is set to issue soon the certificate of effectivity (CoE) which shall finally call on the payment of the $440.88 million winning bid for the 218-megawatt component of the privatized Angat hydropower facility.
Relative to this development, it was gathered that K-Water already expressed willingness “to pay the acquisition amount in full.” Effectively, that will shore up PSALM’s bottom-line and will also spare it from additional borrowings this year.
The signing of documents between PSALM and winning bidder Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-Water) had been concluded Wednesday this week, and the next step will be the issuance of the CoE and it was tentatively calendared April 23 this year, unless plans will change.
The signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA), however, was not attended by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the National Water Resources Board (NRWB) which will have critical role in the offered public private partnership (PPP) for the rehabilitation deal on the auxiliary units of the Angat facility.
In a text message Thursday, PSALM president Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr. explained that “the signing was necessitated by the decision of the Supreme Court on the Angat sale which required some changes in the MOA.”
Upon turnover of the facility, K-Water will reportedly work on finalizing the terms for the engagement of a local partner. The San Miguel Energy group is on its list of highly-prospective partner.
PSALM earlier targeted the turnover of the Angat facility around February this year. However, some concerns cropped up with the decision of the MWSS to engage a private contractor for the auxiliary units of the Angat facility.
This refers to the generating units 4 and 5 which have aggregate capacity of 28MW. These were excluded from PSALM‘s divestment because the units are owned by MWSS.
PSALM’s sale mandate was limited to the assets owned by the National Power Corporation. In Angat’s case, this will be the 218-MW chunk of the asset’s capacity.
The privatization of the Angat facility went through a very rigorous process, with it even stopped by advocacy groups through a suit filed with the Supreme Court.
Last year, however, the high court upheld the validity of the asset’s divestiture but it instructed relevant parties to institute modifications in the Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) and the Operation and Maintenance Agreement (OMA) between NPC and PSALM.
The Supreme Court ruled that state-run NPC “shall continue to be the holder of Water Permit No. 6512 issued by the National Water Resources Board” for the utilization of water to generate electricity at the Angat facility.
It similarly prescribed that NPC shall remain a “co-party with K-Water in the water protocol with MWSS and NIA (National Irrigation Administration) and not merely as conforming authority or agency.”  source