|
STATE-RUN Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation
(Psalm) is set to bid out in August the energy contracts between
National Power Corporation (Napocor) and independent power producers
(IPP).
The schedule was the result of Psalm’s
two-month consultations with the Philippine Independent Power
Producers Association (PIPPA), potential investors, IPP plant
managers, distribution utilities and members of financial
institutions.
The government’s power-sector privatization
arm however said that it has yet to fine-tune the terms of reference
and bidding rules for the transfer of ownership, as “there is no
model from any country on which to pattern the privatization of IPPs.”
Earlier, a World Bank-assisted report recommended possible
structures for the bidding of the IPP administrations.
Psalm said it would also look into the Wholesale
Electricity Spot Market to determine the structure and plant
portfolios that will encourage investor interest in the bidding.
The output of state-owned Napocor’s contracted
IPP plants is traded at the spot market.
Under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of
2001, the privatization of at least 70 percent of the total capacity
of Napocor’s generating assets as well as the transfer of the
management and control of at least 70 percent of the contracted
energy of IPPs in Luzon and the Visayas to IPP administrators are
prerequisites for retail competition and open access in the
industry.
-- Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
|
