DoE mulling smaller-capacity Unified Leyte contracts

The Department of Energy is looking into the option of offering contracts for the 640-megawatt Unified Leyte geothermal power in smaller-sized capacities. Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla told reporters that the move will entail dividing the contracted capacities into one 240-MW contract and the rest in strips of one megawatt per contract. “The trader [at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market] will be the biggest taker, the one who will get the 240 MW. He will aggregate the entire contracts," he said. Petilla said that with Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA), distribution utilities and industries can “definitely” bid now. "In fact, Pasar [Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp.] can bid. End users can bid. This is the right timing because under RCOA, all of a sudden they can bid. That’s why I want it [privatization] now for the simple reason that it is the right timing for RCOA. If I delay it again, nothing will happen," said Petilla, who was governor of Leyte before accepting the Energy portfolio. The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) and the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. are currently working on the privatization mode for the Unified Leyte contracts, said the Energy chief. PSALM plans to bid out the Unified Leyte contracts this year. The bidding was moved in 2010 when the government decided to review the project's privatization process. The previous bidding rules required Unified Leyte's capacities to be bid out at 384 MW (60 percent) and 255 MW (40 percent). Among the parties who earlier expressed interest in bidding for the Unified Leyte contracts are First Gen Corp., the Ayala Group, and Aboitiz Power Corp. — BM, GMA News