Four companies have expressed interest to bid for the 650-megawatt (MW) Malaya Thermal Power Plant (MTPP) in Rizal, state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said.

The interested bidders are Panasia Energy Inc., Phinma Energy Corp., Hill Trench Power Inc. and Therma Central Visayas Inc.The four companies have attended the pre-bid conference last Oct. 24 as part of the second round of bidding for the privatization of the MTPP.

“The pre-bid conference enabled interested bidders to ask questions and request for clarifications relative to the bidding requirements. This is integral to ensuring that the bidders can eventually submit bids and documents that are responsive to technical requirements of PSALM,” PSALM president and chief executive officer Irene Besido-Garcia said.

The MTPP is currently operational and being dispatched as a must run unit (MRU) by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

However, per the Department of Energy’s (DOE) direction, once privatized, MTPP is no longer required to run as an MRU.

Interested bidders are directed to submit documentary deliverables on Nov. 7, which PSALM will check the completeness of the submitted documents and announce the prequalified bidders.

Prior to the bid submission deadline, the PSALM board, upon recommendation of the bids and awards committee (PBAC), will meet to determine the reserve price for the plant and its underlying land.

Qualified bidders will then be informed of the reserve price. PSALM has set the bid submission deadline on Nov. 22, followed by the opening and evaluation of bids on the same day.

In the event of a failure of bidding because there is only one bid received, the PBAC will declare a failure of the second round of bidding and negotiation with the lone bidder will immediately commence.

In September, PSALM declared failed bidding for the sale of the Malaya TPP as only one bidder submitted an offer.

Out of the four qualified bidders, only AC Energy Inc. submitted a bid for Malaya TPP. The other qualified bidders are FGEN Reliable Energy Holdings Inc., D.M. Wenceslao & Associates Inc., and DMCI Power Corp.

Located in Pililia, Rizal, it consists of a 300-MW unit with a once-through type boiler and a 350-MW unit fitted with a conventional boiler.

Malaya TPP was last rehabilitated in 1995 by Korea Electric Power Corp. under a 15-year rehabilitate-operate-manage-maintain agreement.