THE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation is looking to raise anywhere from P40 billion to as much as P90 billion from the sale of the Agus-Pulangi hydroelectric complex.
The Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex consists of seven run-of-river hydroelectric power plants located in southern and central Mindanao with a combined installed capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW). The state firm is eyeing to privatize this generation asset via a concession deal.
‘It can be as low as P40 billion to as high as P90 billion, but again, aggressive numbers,’ said PSALM President Dennis Dela Serna at a recent public hearing of the Senate Committee on Finance. ‘The concession of the Agus-Pulangi complex, we hope to be also successful within the term of PBBM [President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.],’ he added.
If the planned privatization will be successful, the amount will help reduce PSALM’s financial obligations, which stood at P259.38 billion as of end-August this year. ‘We hope that with a successful concession of Agus-Pulangi, it should be more than enough to pay off all these obligations once they mature,’ Dela Serna said.
PSALM was created under Republic Act No. 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, to lead the privatization of generation and transmission assets of the National Power Corporation.
‘From my perspective, I have to wipe out close to P100 billion worth of obligations because the Murang Kuryente Act should cater to that differential.I just need to provide, at the minimum, P100 billion which I hope to receive already from Agus-Pulangi and other privatization activities,’ Dela Serna said.