The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) is tapping the services of a transactional adviser to come up with the best modality for the privatization of the Agus-Pulangi hydro power plant complex.
The exercise will take into account the need to provide lower power rates.
“…We are in the process of hiring a transactional adviser. We are also coming up with a feasibility study on what we can do to address various concerns we receive from stakeholders. Among them is assigning a contract and how viable is that based on our current rates,” said
Dennis Edward Dela Serna, PSALM president and chief executive officer, at the budget hearing in the Senate yesterday.
PSALM said the hydro power complex in Mindanao has a collective rated capacity of around 1,000 megawatts (MW) but only has 450 MW in dependable capacity due to hydrology concerns, among others.
“The main concern really is the cost of power. We said that we can always enter (into) long-term or short-term contracts and attach (the contract) to the concession agreement if we … have it operated and maintained by private sector. We currently give the lowest rates in Mindanao,” Dela Serna said.
PSALM said the cost of power output from the Agus-Pulangi is less than P2 per kilowatt hour (kWh) compared to the average regulated cost of power in Mindanao at P2.80 per kWh.
As of June 2024, its total obligations is at P277 billion.
