By Lenie Lectura- September 17, 2018
ABOITIZ Power Corp. (AboitizPower)
is hoping to sell its 8.8-megawatt (MW) biomass-power plant operated
by its wholly owned subsidiary Aseagas Corp. (Aseagas) this year.
AboitizPower Chief Operating Officer
Emmanuel Rubio said last week the company is in talks with two interested
firms.
“We are talking to two interested
parties—one local and one foreign entity—that would probably look into a
partnership with a local firm,” Rubio said. The proposals sent by the
interested firms are being evaluated. “One is doing due diligence. We’re making
them go into a race. If they are interested, it will happen,” the company
official said.
The target date to close the
transaction could be within the year, Rubio said. It is also possible, he added,
that Abotiiz could partner with any of the interested firms to operate the
facility once more.
“We’re not closing ourselves with an
option, which is the joint venture. But if we can sell it and if we can close
it within the year, we can do that. If not, we’ll look on operating it again.
We’ll see. We’re not closing that option,” Rubio said.
The plant in Lian, Batangas, ceased
operations on November 24, 2017, due to the unavailability of the supply
of organic effluent wastewater from Absolut Distillers Inc.
AboitizPower said Aseagas has
prepaid its outstanding loan with the Development Bank of the Philippines in
the amount of P2.368 billion.
On top of it, the company also
invested equity of around P950 million for the biomass plant and has around
P460 million in outstanding liabilities.
Thus, the total value affected as a
result of the closure is estimated to be at P3.7 billion, which represents
Aseagas invested equity of P3.45 billion and the company’s estimated remaining
obligations of around P250 million.
Aseagas is a subsidiary of
AboitizPower, through Aboitiz Renewables Inc., its holding company for its
investments in renewable energy.
AboitizPower is the holding company
for the Aboitiz Group’s investments in power generation, distribution and
retail electricity services.
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