By
Lenie Lectura - January 8, 2018
AN official
of Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR) believes the best way to
privatize hydroelectric power plants along the Agus and Pulangi Rivers in
Mindanao is to sell the power-generating plants’ output rather than sell the
assets.
“Perhaps, the
government can consider privatizing not the physical assets but per
kilowatt-hour [kWh] generation, similar to the strips of generation capacity
like what was done in Leyte,” said Joseph Nocos, ACR vice president for
business development.
Nocos was referring to
the privatization of the Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plants (ULGPP)
conducted by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM),
the agency tasked to manage state-owned power assets and is operated by
state-run National Power Corp.
PSALM turned over the
ownership of the government’s contracted capacities in these power plants to
various Independent Power Producer Administrator, which now has the right to
sell the capacity of the ULGPP.
Nocos said this kind of
approach would address some of industry stakeholders’ concerns that privatizing
the assets will “undermine the patrimony of Mindanao.”
He also believes that
government’s goal of privatizing the asset and raising the money from operation
and management of power plants would be achieved.
“I think if you sell
the energy first you can proceed with the rehabilitation soon,” Nocos said.
PSALM earlier said it
plans to rehabilitate the 982-megawatt (MW) Agus-Pulangi hydro plants then bid
out the operation and management of the assets thereafter.
Currently, the
hydropower plants supply only 40 percent of its total nameplate capacity to the
Mindanao transmission grid despite being the cheapest power source in the
region with sales at around P2.70 per kWh.
The Agus complex has
727-MW installed capacity, while Pulangui’s capacity is at 255 MW. However,
both facilities already have derated generation.
Meantime, ACR awaits
for the release of the terms of reference.
“I would say we are
interested in such a big project,” ACR Chairman Tomas Alcantara earlier said.
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