Wednesday, September 12, 2007 Agency opens bidding for Palinpinon, Panay power plants
THE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (Psalm) has finally placed the Palinpinon Geothermal and Panay Diesel power plants in the auction block.
Psalm is offering the 192.5-megawatt (MW) Palinpinon and 146.5-MW Panay power plants as one generation package, which will include a power supply allocation.
It was officially offered to prospective bidders on Friday through a published Invitation to Bid notice.
The Palinpinon and Panay power plants are located in the Visayas region.
The Palinpinon facility is located between the islands of Panay and Cebu. It supplies 60 MW to Panay to supplement the power demand deficiency in the island.
The electric agency said investors have until September 17 to submit their Letters of Interest to Psalm. Prospective investors will be provided bidding packages upon their execution of a Confidentiality Agreement and
Undertaking with Psalm as well as payment of a non-refundable participation fee of US$2,000.
The pre-bid conference is on September 28, at the Psalm office in Makati and the deadline for the submission of bids is at 12 noon of December 5.
The Palinpinon Geothermal Power Plant consists of two power stations, the Palinpinon I and II. It uses geothermal steam supplied by the Philippine National Oil Company-Energy Development Corporation.
Connected to a submarine cable that links Negros and Panay islands, the Palinpinon power plant supplies 18-20 percent of the electricity demand in the Cebu-Negros-Panay-Bohol-Leyte-Samar Grid.
The Panay Diesel Power Plant, on the other hand, consists of the 36.5-MW Panay 1 Diesel Power Plant and 110-MW Panay 3 Diesel Power Plant.
Panay 1 was commissioned in 1979, while Panay 3, also known as the “Pinamucan Diesel Power Plant,” was relocated from its Batangas site after the expiration of the BOT (build-operate-transfer) contract with Enron Power Development Corporation in 2003 to prevent a potential near-term shortage of power and provide voltage stabilization in the island of Panay.
The Panay 1 and 3 Diesel plants are the only land-based facilities of the National Power Corporation in the island. They are peaking plants that provide ancillary services such as backup power, load following, system frequency and voltage regulation. (MSN/Sunnex)
