THE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) has moved the deadline to submit offers for the negotiated sale of the 650-megawatt Malaya Thermal Power Plant to May 7 to allow for possible disruptions to bid preparation caused by the new Metro Manila lockdown.
Participants were previously required to submit their offers by April 23.
In a statement Tuesday, PSALM said that it is also moving the deadline for the submission of “documentary deliverables” to April 21 from April 7.
“These adjustments in the dates were done in recognition of the challenges that bid participants may face in securing necessary documents while Metro Manila is under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ),” PSALM said.
Late last month, President Rodrigo R. Duterte placed Metro Manila and nearby provinces under ECQ, the strictest quarantine setting. It took effect on March 29, and was extended to April 11.
To date, there are three interested bidders participating in the privatization of the plant and its underlying land in Pililla, Rizal. These are AC Energy Corp., Fort Pilar Energy, Inc., and VBB Trucking, Trading and Consultancy Services, Inc.
PSALM has said that the minimum offer price for the Malaya site has been reduced to around P1.85 billion from P2.01 billion previously, which was the minimum price set for the second round of the negotiated sale.
In September, PSALM announced the failure of the third-round auction to sell the plant and its assets.
The Department of Energy, in its 37th Electric Power Industry Reform Act Implementation Status Report, said that it costs around P1.2 billion a year to maintain the plant, with a sale needed soon due to “increasing substantial losses in the continuous maintenance of the plant.”
Proceeds of the sale will help settle PSALM’s assumed financial obligations. — Angelica Y. Yang