MANILA Electric Co. subsidiary Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) said it will no longer proceed in the scheduled privatization bid of the Caliraya—Botocan—Kalayaan (CBK) hydroelectric power plant complex in Laguna due to “limited resources,” according to Emmanuel Rubio, MGen president and chief executive officer,
CBK is comprised of three separate hydro facilities with a contracted capacity of 796.64 megawatts (MW) which is currently run by independent power producer CBK Power Co. Ltd. under a 25-year build—rehabilitate—operate—transfer contract which will expire in 2026.
MGen said with the government’s scheduled conduct of a Green Energy Auction round involving pumped-storage hydro projects, valuing the CBK privatization is more difficult.
“If there’s a GEAP for pump storage, it would be difficult to value CBK if you’re competing with a pump storage and a GEAP,” Rubio said.
Last March, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.’s (PSALM) focus this year is to privatize the CBK hydroelectric power plant complex.
Recto is chairman of the board of PSALM.
MGen has a total power generation gross capacity of 2,425 MW that utilize coal, liquified natural gas, diesel and solar technologies.
