Meralco still keen on tie-up with K-Water

Business Mirror

Published on Sunday, 16 June 2013 19:16

Written by Paul Anthony A. Isla

POWER retailer Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is still keen on working with Korea Water Resources Development Corp. (K-Water) for the 218-megawatt (MW) Angat hydro-power plant in Bulacan, Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan  told reporters.

The Meralco official said in an interview that  Meralco representatives visited K-Water’s head office in Daejeon, South Korea. ”We’ve talked to them, when we visited their headquarters,” he said.

The Meralco executive said he thinks K-Water has yet to decide which group they will partner with.

Pangilinan said they remain uncertain on the kind of partnership to pursue with K-Water, particularly on whether Meralco will take a majority stake in the partnership. “None yet. The [meeting] was just getting to know [them],” he said.

In 2010 K-Water submitted the highest bid of $440.88 million for the Angat hydro-power plant, which was contested by various groups at the Supreme Court, asking to nullify the sale citing constitutionality issues.

K-Water is engaged in the construction, operation and management of multipurpose dams and multiregional/local water supply systems. It is also involved in complex development business assigned by the central/municipal governments.

At that time, K-Water did not have a local partner when it made its offer for the Angat hydropower facility. The Supreme Court, however, issued a ruling that upheld the legality of the sale of the Angat facility to K-Water.

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) originally planned to turn over the Angat plant to K-Water by January or February. The actual transfer of assets, however, has yet to materialize.

The Angat power plants are in San Lorenzo, Norzagaray,  in Bulacan. It consists of four main units, each with 50-MW capacity, and were commissioned between 1967 and 1968.

Meralco, through Meralco PowerGen Corp., is developing various power-generation projects that include the 600-MW Subic coal plant. Meralco PowerGen also recently acquired  a 70-percent interest in GMR Energy (Singapore) Pte Ltd. together with First Pacific Ltd.   source