Aboitiz firm submits highest bid for Tiwi-Makban plants

MANILA, Philippines - A subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corp. has submitted the highest bid for two geothermal power facilities located in Southern Luzon. In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange, AP said AP Renewables Inc. submitted a $447-million bid for the 289-megawatt Tiwi geothermal facility in Albay and the 458-MW Makiling-Banahaw geothermal facility in Laguna. "The Tiwi-Makban geothermal facilities will be a significant addition to AP's generating capacity following its successful bids for the Magat and Ambuklao-Binga hydropower plants in Northern Luzon and a stake in the STEAG State Power Inc. coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental," AP said. Upon closing of the purchase, AP will have investments in generation facilities with total capacity of 1,957 MW, of which more than 70 percent are from renewable sources of energy. The Tiwi geothermal power plant complex consists of three plants, namely, Plant A with two 60-MW units, Plant B with two 55-MW units, and Plant C with two 57-MW units. Plant B's Unit 4 was retired or decommissioned in 2003. The Makban plant complex - situated at the boundary of Bay and Calauan towns in Laguna and Sto. Tomas, Batangas - consists of Plants A and B with two 63-MW units each, Plant C with two 55-MW units, Plants D and E with two 20-MW units each, and a binary plant with five 3-MW and one 0.73-MW units. The Tiwi and Makban geothermal power plants were first commissioned in 1979.GMANews.TV