(The Philippine Star) | Updated June 24, 2017 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines -
The Department of Energy (DOE) is bent on the privatization of the
650-megawatt (MW) Malaya Thermal Power Plant (TPP) in Rizal within the year in
order to convert it into a liquefied natural gas (LNG) or a coal-fired power
facility.
DOE assistant secretary
Leonido Pulido III said they are pushing for the conversion of the Malaya plant
to be able to provide additional supply to the power grid.
“DOE’s position is to
proceed with the privatization but to require the winning bidder to convert
either to LNG or coal. Of course, to be fair, there will be safeguards such as
conversion to occur when there is sufficient available supply of LNG,” he said.
“In any case,
conversion of Malaya TPP by a winning bidder in the future would require DOE
guidance and approval,” the DOE official said.
Currently, the terms of
reference (TOR) for the privatization of the government asset is being
processed to proceed with the privatization schedule within the year.
“(Bidding is) within
the year, it was put on hold in order to revise the TOR to reflect the
requirements for conversion,” Pulido said.
The Malaya TPP is among
the state-owned power plants scheduled to be auctioned off by the Power Sector
Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) this year.
PSALM, the entity
created by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act to privatize state assets,
earlier set the auction last March 8, to be sold on an “as is, where is” basis.
Four power companies
have expressed interest in the sale of the Malaya TPP, namely APT Global Inc.,
Phinma Energy Corp., Riverbend Consolidated Mining Corp. and AC Energy Holdings
Inc.
However, PSALM
postponed the bidding after Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said he wants to
convert the Malaya TPP into a LNG facility to ensure reliable power supply in
the future.
The plant’s conversion
will also allow the country a cleaner, more efficient and reliable power plant,
he said.
Currently, the Malaya
TPP, which runs on diesel, was designated as a must-run unit (MRU) by the DOE
to address supply deficiency when operating power plants in the grid suddenly
bog down or become unavailable.
It will operate as an
MRU until the DOE finalizes its privatization schedule.
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