PSALM eyes up to P90 billion from Agus-Pulangi hydro sale

State-run Power Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) expects to raise between P40 billion and P90 billion from the privatization of the Agus-Pulangi hydro complex in Mindanao through a concession agreement.

This would help pay down the agency’s substantial debt.

PSALM president Dennis dela Serna said the proceeds from the concession would be utilized to cover part of the agency’s P262-billion obligation over the next 10 years.

Dela Serna confirmed the concession mode of privatization for the Agus-Pulangi power plants during a recent Senate hearing, noting that the timeline could be “very quick” if a proposal is acceptable to the government.

“That’s a very aggressive number, Mr. Chair. It can be as low as P40 billion to as high as P90 billion,” dela Serna said.

Dela Serna told Senator Sherwin Gatchalian that the agency is also relying on proceeds from the Murang Kuryente Act, which allocates a portion of the Malampaya fund to pay off the agency’s obligations.

“Based on our own amortizations that we are doing now, we don’t have any plans to borrow for the first time starting 2027,” he said.

This is based on assumptions including the “fiscal space of government and the submission of the Murang Kuryente Act allocation,” as well as the success of the CBK privatization and the Agus-Pulangi concession.

PSALM is also expecting P36.226 billion from the sale of the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) Hydroelectric Power Plants (HEPPs) to the Thunder Consortium which consists of Aboitiz Renewables Inc., Sumitomo Corp., and Electric Power Development Co.

“From my perspective, I have to wipe out close to P100 billion worth of obligations because the MKA should cater to the differential…So I just need to provide at the minimum P100 billion which I hope to receive already from Agus Pulangi and other privatization activities,” Dela Serna said.

“That’s about P36 billion so there’s a remaining about P64 billion. So we hope that with a successful concession of Agusun-Pulangi, it should be more than enough to pay off all these obligations once they mature,” he said.

The agency hopes to conclude the Agus-Pulangi concession within the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.