Gov’t to bid out 4 power barges

State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. has finally set off the bidding process for the sale of its four diesel-fired Power Barges 101, 102, 103 and 104, hopefully marking the resumption of the long-stalled privatization activities of the government.

According to PSALM’s invitation to bid document, the four facilities will be bundled in three packages, under which Package 1 will include PB 101 and 102, which are currently moored at Barrio Obrero, Iloilo City; Package 2 will only include PB 103, located at Estancia, Iloilo; and Package 3, for PB 104, which is at the Holcim Compound in Ilang, Davao City.

Each power barge can generate 32 megawatts.

PSALM announced that interested parties have until Feb. 14 to submit their respective letters of interest, while a pre-bid conference will be held on Feb. 29. Due diligence on the four barges will be opened to prospective bidders starting Feb. 1 until one week before the bid submission deadline.

All bids, it added, should be submitted to PSALM by April 13.

The sale of the four power barges are expected to help stabilize the power supply in Mindanao, as the winning bidders will be mandated to transfer and station these facilities in the island for at least three years, until the proposed coal-fired power projects have started operations.

State-run National Power Corp. earlier bought these power barges from a Japanese firm, Hitachi Zosen Corp. Since they began operations, these barges had been moved about to help ease a severe power shortage in the Philippines, by providing required support in various regions in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Meanwhile, PSALM also announced that it was seeking for offers to supply and deliver P10.6 billion worth of fuel oil to for seven power facilities namely PB 101, 102, 103 and 104; the 149-MW Naga power plant complex in Cebu; the 100-MW diesel facility of Western Mindanao Power Corp. (WMPC) in Sangali, Zamboanga; and the 55-MW bunker-fired power station of Southern Philippines Power Corp. (SPPC) in Alabel, Sarangani.

The amount, according to PSALM, is expected to cover the total fuel requirements of 286,780 kiloliters of these seven power plants.

The biggest fuel requirement will be for WMPC, which will require 101,500 Kliters worth P3.67 billion; followed by the Naga complex which will need 92,390 Kliters worth P3.54 billion; SPPC, 55,600 Kliters (P2.03 billion); PB 104, 18,550 Kliters (P722 million); PB 102, 6,830 Kliters (P248 million); PB 103, 5,960 Kliters (P217 million); and PB 101, 5,950 Kliters (P216 million).

A pre-bidding conference will be held on Feb. 7. All bids should be submitted to PSALM by Feb. 21. INQUIRER