AC Energy eyes PSALM assets

AC Energy Inc., the power business of the Ayala Group, will take a look at other assets of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) once these are privatized.

The company will study its possible participation in the bidding for PSALM’s Independent Power Producer (IPP) contracts, said Eric Francia, president and CEO of AC Energy.

“That’s not core to our strategy, but we’ll look at it at a minimum,” he said.

PSALM is now in the process of formulating and evaluating viable options for the privatization of its remaining IPP contracts, namely the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) hydroelectric power plant (HEPP), Mindanao coal-fired power plant and the Casecnan HEPP.

It is seeking a consultant to explore privatization options for IPP contracts.

CBK-HEPP is under an IPP administrator (IPPA) contract with CBK Power Co. Ltd. until Feb. 7, 2026, but is slated for bidding in 2019 subject to the Department of Energy’s policy direction.

The Mindanao coal plant is under the IPPA contract with STEAG State Power Inc. until Nov. 15, 2031, while the Casecnan plant is under CE Casecnan Water and Energy Co. Inc. until April 5, 2022.

The last two plants are scheduled for privatization in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

The IPPA process provides successful bidders a way to enter the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) for a minimal capital outlay. The approach adopted provides the administrators an opportunity to trade in the WESM without the expense of building a new plant.

AC Energy is one of the 10 companies participating in the bidding for the 650-megawatt (MW) Malaya Thermal Power Plant (TPP).

Other companies include Panasia Energy, Quezon Power Philippines Ltd., Crown Investment Holdings, Energy World Power Operations Phil- ippines, FGEN Reliable Energy Holdings, Pan Pacific Renewable Power Philippines, SMC Global Power Holdings, DMCI Power and Phinma Energy Corp.

Only those who have submitted LOIs will be allowed to participate in the privatization of the assets. It set the bid opening on Dec. 14.

AC Energy has taken interest in the Malaya TPP since it was first bid out in March 2017. The facility was supposed to be sold on an “as is, where is” basis.

However, the privatization schedule was deferred since the Department of Energy (DOE) proposed to have it converted into a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant.