Danessa Rivera (The Philippine Star) - November 2, 2018 - 12:00am
https://www.philstar.com/business/2018/11/02/1865075/aboitizpower-reports-progress-power-plant-sale-negotiations
MANILA, Philippines — Talks for the sale of Aboitiz Power Corp.’s 8.8-megawatt (MW) biomass power plant in Lian, Batangas are progressing well, which the company hopes to finalize within this month.
Negotiations with the two interested buyers are still ongoing, AboitizPower COO Emmanuel Rubio said in an interview with The STAR.
Currently, the buyers are in discussions with the feedstock supplier to secure fuel source, he said.
“Negotiation is on the other side, with the feedstock supplier. That’s what we’re waiting for,” Rubio said. “We’ll probably have news of development in two to three weeks.”
Last May, the company announced plans to sell the biomass power project after it decided to stop operating the facility.
The plan garnered interests from two parties – one local and another foreign – to acquire the power facility.
Rubio earlier said if talks progress, AboitizPower hopes to seal the deal before the end of the year.
But if discussions fall through, the Aboitiz power unit is looking at the option to run the biomass power plant again.
The 8.8-MW biomass plant is the group’s first biomass project, which was supposed to start commercially operating in the second quarter this year.
It is under Aseagas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of AboitizPower through Aboitiz Renewables Inc., its holding company for its investments in renewable energy.
However, Aseagas permanently ceased operations of the facility last January. Before that, the plant was previously placed on extended shutdown towards the end of 2017 due to lack of feedstock.
As a result of the closure, total value affected is estimated at P3.7 billion, which represents Aseagas invested equity of P3.45 billion and the company’s estimated remaining obligations of around P250 million.
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