31 companies eyeing unified Leyte Geothermal Facility

Manila Bulletin 
By Myrna M. Velasco 
Published: August 29, 2013 
At the phase of submitting letters of interest (LOI), the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) cornered significant interest from 40 parties for the privatization of the supply contract of the 640-megawatt Unified Leyte geothermal power facility.
But at pre-bid conference, PSALM president Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr. disclosed that 10 parties expressed interest for bulk energy; while 21 signified to join the auction for the strips of energy – slashed by nine from the initial whetted appetite for the Leyte geothermal asset’s supply contract.
The list of prospective bidders for bulk energy have been identified as: Aboitiz Power Renewables Inc., DMCI Power Corporation; FDC Utilities Inc.; Global Business Power Corporation; Marubeni Corporation; Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation (PASAR); PowerOne Ventures Energy Inc.; Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corporation; Unified Leyte Geothermal Energy Inc.; and Vivant Energy Corporation.
For the strips of energy, those expected to join the auction are: Aboitiz Energy Solutions, Inc.; AC Energy Holdings, Inc.; APO Cement Corporation; DMCI Power Corporation; Emerging Power Resource Holding Corporation; FDCUI; Global Business Power Corporation; Good Friends Hydro Resources Corporation; Leyte II Electric Cooperative Inc.; LIDE Management Corporation; LIDE-PASAR Power Corporation; Marubeni Corporation; Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative Inc.;  PASAR; Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corporation; PowerOne Ventures Energy Inc.; Renagmec Power Corporation Inc.; Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corporation; Unified Leyte Geothermal Energy Inc.; Vivant Energy Corporation; and Waterfront Airport Hotel & Casino.
The privatization of the supply contract of the Leyte geothermal plant has been modified into combination of “bulk” and strips of energy, with PSALM counting on that the process will finally end up successfully.
This early, however, concerns are raised that dispatch issues may hound the takers of the capacities; and had been expected to be one of the major issues during the pre-bid conference.
While it appears that the interest is overwhelming, industry sources noted it remains to be seen if “all of these parties will move forward to bid submissions.”
The facility is being privatized via the appointment of an independent power producer administrator (IPPA) which may trade the plant’s capacity to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) or offer it to interested buyers.
The PSALM bidding terms prescribe that that “an IPPA can win the rights to strips of energy” in the Leyte geothermal plant. The range of capacity being offered would be from one megawatt to 40MW.
It has been noted further that out of the 240MW aggregate for the strips, the IPPA will only be entitled to the 200MW capacity; with the 40MW remaining in PSALM’s charge as security capacity.
The Leyte geothermal facility comprises the generating units of the 125-MW Upper Mahiao; 232.5MW Malitbog and 180-MW Mahanagdong, as well as the 51-MW optimization plants.  source