SN Aboitiz Power Corp., a joint venture between SN Power of Norway and Aboitiz Power Corp., expressed interest to participate in the impending privatization of the 797.92-megawatt Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan hydro plant.
“We are very interested. We feel we’re very well positioned to acquire that asset and to optimize it,” SN Aboitiz president and chief executive officer Joseph Yu said Monday.
State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. is working out a technical assistance agreement with the Asian Development Bank on the planned privatization of the independent power producer contracts of the CBK hydro plant and the 150-MW Casecnan hydro facility.
PSALM plans to privatize the assets by next year.
“We think it’s a very good fit to the portfolio that we have today. We would be very interested if CBK would be privatized,” Yu said.
SN Aboitiz owns one of the biggest hydro projects in the country today. The company owns and operates the 388 -MW Magat hydro on the border of Isabela and Ifugao provinces, the 8.5-MW Maris hydro in Isabela, the 105-MW Ambuklao hydro in Benguet, and the 140-MW Binga hydro in Benguet.
It is also keen on developing the proposed $550-million 390- megawatt Alimit hydropower complex in Ifugao province.
PSALM president Irene Garcia earlier said the CBK power plant would likely be privatized followed by the Casecnan power plant.
“We’re going to start studying the two because as you know, the power plants, they have different structures… We are seeking the assistance of ADB to look at the technicalities of that. Hopefully, by next year, we will be able to decide on priva structure,” Garcia said.
Garcia said they hope to engage ADB on the privatization of the two power assets.
“We are fine-tuning if the scope of the coverage of the study of ADB, so that by next year they can start the study. I’m not very certain how much time they need, but I’m thinking that’s around six months before they come up with the study,” the official said.
PSALM manages the assets and liabilities of National Power Corp. as mandated under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.
“I think the issue that needs to be brought out also is it is not easy to privatize. This is not just a matter of calling a public bidding. There are actually asset-specific problems like we are confronted with power plants where the underlying parcels of land have no titles so those are a challenge to us,” Garcia said.
The CBK and Casecnan power facilities are among the big-ticket hydropower projects up for privatization aside from Agus-Pulangi hydro in Mindanao.