By
Lenie Lectura - January 31, 2017
THE Alsons Power Group
is still very much interested to bid for the hydroelectric power plants along
the Agus and Pulangi Rivers in Mindanao.
“We are waiting for the
TOR [terms of reference]. I would say we are interested in such a big project,”
said Tomas Alcantara, chairman of Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR).
The Agus complex has
727-megawatts (MW) installed capacity, while Pulangui’s capacity is at 255 MW.
However, both facilities already have derated generation.
The power facility is
owned 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. (Napocor).
The target is to
privatize the asset within this year.
PSALM, according to its
Officer in Charge Lourdes Alzona, is considering a number of options. These are
“outright sale, it could just be the service component also, or
corporatization.”
Alzona said the asset
could be placed in a new government-run corporate entity, the proposed Mindanao
Power Corp.
Earlier, Energy
Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi directed PSALM to study the reallocation of the power
facility’s output to “the poorest of the poor” in the Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) locations
in Mindanao.
“I have written a
letter to PSALM to study allocating the output of Agus-Pulangi to the poorest
of the poor. That means to say the ARMM and the Lanao area and Maguindanao, so
that we can help in the development of the area. The rest will be directed to
the Peza so that we can encourage investments in Mindanao, so that we can
compete against our neighbors for having cheaper electricity to offer to the
manufacturing companies,” he said.
Electricity from the said
power asset is being sold to various electric cooperatives (ECs).
“The contracts [with
ECs] have expired. All ECs wanted to get longer contract, but what I said, at
most we can give them one year to have transition, The intent of transition is
to give time to ECs to make adjustment and for PSALM for the dispatch with
NGCP [National Grid Corp. of the Philippines],” Cusi said.
If implemented, the
target 2017 privatization would be delayed.
“That is now being
studied,” Cusi said. “But let’s not mix objective and direction. The
redirecting the allocation of Agus-Pulangi has nothing to do with
privatization. It’s just now that we want to give benefits to the poorest of
the poor and promote industries in the region.”
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