Sate-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. said Wednesday the value of the 796.64-megawatt Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) hydroelectric power plant complex in Lumban, Majayjay and Kalayaan Laguna will not go down with its planned rebidding.
PSALM president Dennis de la Serna said they decided to cancel the previous bidding for the oldest hydro plant in the country amid concerns on the independent power producer administration agreement.
“We decided to cancel and rebid. We plan for a straight asset sale. We hope the previous interested parties will still be there for this new process,” he said.
“It will still be a competitive bidding,” de la Serna said. He did not give an updated schedule of the bidding but said earlier they planned to bid out the CBK hydro facility in April 2025.
PSALM issued the first invitation to bid for CBK in December 2023 for interested parties to participate in the selection and appointment of the independent power producer administrator (IPPA) for the administration of the contracted capacity and privatization of the CBK power plants.
“There is a term for IPPA with asset sale. Given the term of the IPPA is short, we decided for a straight asset sale,” the official said.
The CBK hydroelectric power plant complex, which comprises three separate facilities with a contracted capacity of 796.64 megawatts, plays a central role in the Luzon power system. It is one of the few remaining big ticket power assets that are up for privatization.
It is run by independent power producer CBK Power Co. Ltd. under a 25-year build-rehabilitate-operate-transfer (BROT) contract, which will expire in 2026.
Among the interested bidders of the previous bidding were the consortium of Aboitiz Renewables Inc., Electric Power Development Co. and Sumitomo Corp. (Thunder consortium), First Gen Prime Energy Corp., Giga Ace 11, Inc., Korea Water Resources Corp. Marubeni Corp., Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. and Semirara Mining and Power Corp.
PSALM tapped the Asian Development Bank as the transaction advisor to monetize CBK hydro power plants. The Department of Finance is hoping to between P50 billion and P100 billion from the CBK privatization.