SPC Power sees little hit from Naga plant decision

SPC POWER Corp. has downplayed the impact on the company of the recent turnover of a power plant complex in Naga City, Cebu to another group after their legal battle resulted against its favor.

“Before the turnover, only the Cebu Diesel Power Plant with total dependable capacity of 33 MW [megawatts] had been operating. The other plants (the Cebu Thermal Power Plants 1 & 2) had been scheduled for dismantling to pave the way for the planned construction of a new power plant,” the company told the stock exchange.

He said the immediate effect of the turnover of the Naga facility on SPC’s business is the loss of revenue generated from the Cebu diesel plant.

“However, the said loss is expected to be substantially recovered with the completion of rehabilitation and full commercial operation of Power Barge 104 (PB 104) within the second half of the current year,” it said.

PB 104 was acquired from Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) in 2016, it said. It has a total dependable capacity of 26 MW and has completed total barge rehabilitation.

“With major overhauling already completed on three engines (one engine still ongoing), PB 104 has been declared for commercial operation effective July 18, 2018,” SPC said.

It said that with the development of a new power plant at the Naga power complex already halted due to the adverse Supreme Court decision, the board of directors of SPC had set its sights on other power project opportunities.

“New hydro power plant projects are being considered in other parts of Visayas and Luzon,” it said, without disclosing details.

On Monday, SPC said it had turned over the 153.1-MW landbased power plant in Naga City to PSALM, paving the way for Aboitiz Power Corp. to take hold of the complex after years of legal proceedings that ended in its favor.

It said the turnover is pursuant to the decision of the Supreme Court in Osmeña versus PSALM et al., declaring as null and void the asset purchase agreement and land lease agreement covering the complex, entered into by SPC and PSALM, the government agency that handles the privatization of the government’s power-related assets.

On Wednesday, shares in SPC slipped 0.19% to close at P5.28 each.