Angat rehabilitation to start by September

Business World Online

Posted on February 24, 2013 08:58:12 PM

THE METROPOLITAN Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) is targeting to award the contract for the rehabilitation of two auxiliary units of the Angat hydroelectric power plant by September, an official said on Friday.

"We have yet to schedule the next and final pre-qualification conference, which will then trigger the scheduling of the evaluation and opening of bids. But MWSS is targeting September 2013 for the awarding of contract and notice to proceed the rehabilitation and operation," Nathaniel C. Santos, MWSS senior deputy administrator, said in a text message.

Mr. Santos said the rehabilitation of the facility will take 18 months to complete.

Earlier this month, Mr. Santos said the deadline for the submission of pre-qualification documents for the project was extended up to March 4, from Jan. 31 to give interested parties more time to prepare.

"The interested bidders said that the original period is too short to coordinate with their partners. Some of them have foreign partners. Under the process, all documents shall be authenticated through consular offices, so they need more time to do that," Mr. Santos has said.

According to the MWSS last month, the auction for the rehabilitation of two turbines of the Angat hydropower plant -- a priority project under the government’s public-private partnership program -- has attracted 10 major firms.

The firms that bought pre-qualification documents are: SN Aboitiz Power (which is a joint venture of Aboitiz Power Corp. and SN Norway); Marubeni Corp.; Aguirre Abano Pamfilo Paras Pineda & Agustin Law Office; Trans-Asia Oil & Energy Development Corp.; and Korea Water Resources Corp.

Also in the list are: Sta. Clara Power Corp.; EEI Corp.; Meralco PowerGen Corp. (the power generation unit of Manila Electric Co.); Kaltimex Energy Philippines; and First Gen Northern Energy Corp.

Mr. Santos said there will be a screening to know what companies are eligible to participate in the actual bidding based on the pre-qualification documents. After the screening of those who are qualified, the MWSS will issue the actual bid documents and hold the final pre-bid conference.

Based on a document sent thru e-mail by Mr. Santos, the project involves the rehabilitation, operation and maintenance (ROM) of auxiliary 4 and 5 of the power facility to increase its load factor from the annual average of 21% to 60%.

MWSS said that after the installation of equipment, the auxiliary units are estimated to generate a net annual electricity production of 145.7 gigawatt-hours.

"The project aims to extend the economic life of auxiliary 4 and 5 by another 30 years as well as to increase the energy output and load capacity from 20% to 60% through the replacement of existing runners and electro-mechanical equipment," the project document read.

The MWSS last December published the invitation to bid for the contract, which has a term of 20 years and is estimated to cost approximately P1.155 billion. -- Claire-Ann Marie C. Feliciano  source