|
|
|
Friday March 9, 5:40 PM
Manila to re-auction Masinloc power plant in JulyMANILA, March 9 (Reuters) - The Philippines said on Friday it would re-auction in July the 600-megawatt Masinloc power plant after a Malaysian-controlled consortium failed to make a downpayment on the asset last year. "I'm getting more and more optimistic about Masinloc," Jose Ibazeta, the newly appointed head of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. or PSALM said in a statement.
YNN Pacific Consortium Inc., which is controlled by Malaysian power firm Ranhill Bhd. , backed out from the deal to buy the plant last year due to lack of power supply contract with Manila Electric Co. , the Philippines' largest power distributor, sources have said. The group failed to make the downpayment of $227.5 million for the coal-fired plant from its bid of $561.7 million. This prompted the Philippine government to confiscate a $14 million bond of YNN Pacific for failing to meet the deadline. Masinloc is among dozens of power assets being sold by the government to raise between $4 billion-$5 billion as part of a wider power and fiscal sector reform. Last month, the government also failed to auction the 25-year licence to run the state-run power grid after only one bidder showed up. Under government privatisation rules, at least two companies should submit bids. The government also plans to rebid the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo), which runs the power grid. "If we are successful in Masinloc, and there's no reason to think otherwise, we move on to TransCo," Ibazeta said. Manila has had little success in selling its power plants due to concerns about their profitability in the absence of supply contracts and with a history of judicial meddling with tariffs.
|
|
Copyright ©
2007
Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of Reuters Limited
|
