SPC Power to operate 650-MW Malaya plant

STATE RUN Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. has awarded to SPC Power Corp. (formerly Salcon Power) the contract to operate and maintain the 650-megawatt Malaya thermal power plant in Rizal.

PSALM president and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. confirmed to the INQUIRER that the contract was awarded late last month. Ledesma did not disclose the offer of SPC Power, but said the bid was below the approved budget of P556 million for the one-year contract.

The new agreement replaced the previous one-year operations and management contract awarded to SPC Power for the Malaya thermal facility that expired last month.

It was crucial for PSALM to award an O&M contract as this would ensure the continued operation of the Malaya thermal plant. The energy facility is considered crucial as it provides the muchneeded additional capacity for the Luzon grid when some of the island’s baseload power plants are not producing either due to forced outages or preventive maintenance activities.

The Malaya plant is also being considered by the Department of Energy for conversion into a natural gas facility that will provide the anchor load for the planned gas pipelines in Luzon, particularly the $2.1-billion Batangas-Manila pipeline. The plan was to convert the power plant prior to its sale to the private sector so it can fetch a higher price.

The Malaya power plant was acquired in the mid-1970s by the state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor).

After 20 years, Korea Electric Power Corp. started rehabilitating the facility after it won the international bidding for the rehabilitation, operation, maintenance and management contract conducted by Napocor.

It was under Kepco’s management that the power plant was able to operate at its original rated generation capacity of 650 MW. The contract, however, expired in 2011. SPC Power then took over, having won the contract to operate and maintain the facility in October 2011.