Aboitiz Power takes over Tiwi-Makban geothermal power next month

MANILA, Philippines - The holding company for the Aboitiz Group's investments in power generation and distribution is close to taking over two geothermal facilities in May 26 as money from its market debut and issuance of fixed rate notes will be used for the downpayment. Stephen G. Paredies, senior vice president and chief finance officer of parent firm Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc., said Aboitiz Power Corp. will be able to pay 40 percent or P8 billion for the 289 megawatt (MW) Tiwi and 458.53-MW Makban geothermal power facilities from internally generated funds. "We had funds from the IPO and we issued fixed rate notes last December. This was sufficient for the 40 percent downpayment," he said. Aboitiz Power raised P3.8 billion from the issuance of fixed rate notes in December. The remaining 60 percent will be paid for a period of seven years. Last July, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) declared Aboitiz Power on July 2008 the new operator of Tiwi-Makban geothermal power facilities after submitting a bid price of $446.888 million. First commissioned in 1979, the Tiwi-Makban plants are located at the boundary of Bay and Calauan towns in Laguna and Sto. Tomas, Batangas. -GMANews.TV