Deadline set for offers to buy Aseagas biomass power plant

ABOITIZ Power Corp. said last week that a deadline has been set for interested firms to make offers for its 8.8-megawatt (MW) biomass power plant operated by its wholly owned subsidiary, Aseagas Corp. (Aseagas).

“I think there is a deadline. I think late November is the deadline for people to make offers on those assets,” said AboitizPower Chief Operating Officer Emmanuel Rubio.

The power firm has been trying to sell this asset for over a year now. To attract more potential buyers, the company has tapped the services of asset disposal firm Astoca Inc. to help it sell the asset.

“The plant was offered by Astoca. There have been plant visits already. They received a number of letters of intent. There are interested offers for CO2 plant [only], the seven engines .... Hopefully, it will all be sold,” said Rubio.

He could not provide details of the firms that have expressed interest to purchase the biomass plant, citing a nondisclosure agreement.

“I don’t know how many are interested. We are not the ones doing the process. They have a report...we gave them a target number on the minimum bidders and I am not at liberty to disclose that. It has to be closed within the year on an as-is-where-is basis,” said Rubio.

Previously, he said the company was in talks with one local and one foreign firm, adding that the latter may partner with a local firm.

The biomass plant in Lian, Batangas, ceased operations in November 2017 due to unavailability of the supply of organic effluent wastewater from Absolut Distillers Inc. This organic material was used to produce electricity upon conversion into renewable energy.

The total value of the asset is estimated at P3.7 billion, which represents Aseagas’s equity investment of P3.45 billion and the company’s remaining obligations of around P250 million.

Rubio said the asset might not be sold depending on the preference of the bidders. “It depends, there may be entities that would like to buy the whole facility, there [may] be entities that would want part of it.”

Aseagas is a subsidiary of AboitizPower, through Aboitiz Renewables, Inc., its holding company for its investments in renewable energy.

AboitizPower, meanwhile, is the holding company for the Aboitiz Group’s investments in power generation, distribution and retail electricity services.