The Philippine Star 10/31/2006
The sale of the shares of Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC) next week is expected to generate up to P19.2 billion in proceeds for the government.
According to documents obtained by The STAR, the initial public offering (IPO) of PNOC-EDC, the country’s biggest geothermal power producer, will fetch between P8.9 billion to P19.2 billion.
The offer price for the 30 percent to 40 percent block of common shares has been set at a range of from P2.10 to P3.20 per share.
PNOC-EDC said the money will be used to finance the development of new steam fields, the acquisition of a new drilling rig and to meet working capital requirements.
The IPO consists of a domestic offer and an international offer. The domestic offer shall consist of shares amounting to the lesser of 20 percent of the combined offer and will have an offer value of P2 billion. The international offer meanwhile, will consist of the balance.
After the international and domestic offers, including the over-allotment option, PNOC-EDC will have a total of 14.118 billion to 15 billion common shares issued and outstanding.
The IPO has an over-allotment option which is an option for the international underwriter to buy up to 15 percent of the offer shares exercisable in full or in part within 30 days from listing date to effect price stabilization.
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The Philippine Star 10/31/2006
The 14-megawatt (MW) biomass co-generation power plant being put up by Central Azucarera de San Antonio (CASA) in Passi City, Iloilo at a cost of P1.6 billion will be operational by the first quarter of 2007.
The power facility will not only service the power requirements of the sugar mill but also help supply electricity to Passi City and the towns of Dueñas and San Enrique in Iloilo.
The co-generation facility will be powered by a 200-metric ton per hour suspension-fired bagasse boiler. It will use sugar cane bagasse, a refuse from sugar milling operations, to fuel the power plant.
While CASA said that about nine MW of the capacity will be used for operations and five MW will be allocated initially for commercial dispatch to local distribution utilities, it also foresees another 12-MW expansion for commercial dispatch in the midterm.
CASA’s co-generation plant is equipped with dual wet scrubbers to ensure compliance with air quality standards prescribed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Energy Secretary Raphael P. M. Lotilla, in a statement, hailed the sugar central’s decision to invest in its own co-generation plant fueled from the refuse of its own sugar milling operations.
"This not only increases renewable energy use in the country but also indicates a trend where large electricity users take steps to improve the cost efficiency of their operations and at the same time provide for their own power requirements," Lotilla added.
The country generates substantial fuel potential from biomass resources, such as bagasse or sugarcane residue, fuel wood, rice hull, coconut residue and animal waste, coming from extensive agriculture, livestock and forestry industries.
For instance, the Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Southern Tagalog regions where the traditional sugar centrals are located generate abundant supply of sugarcane bagasse. Research and field trials on biomass-based energy solutions show that integrating the collection and supply of sugarcane for sugar production and cane residue as fuel for energy production is an ideal method of utilizing cheap and widely available fuel resources for bagasse co-generation projects in the Philippines.
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The Philippine Star 10/31/2006
Sen. Joker Arroyo reprimanded the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) yesterday for refusing to disclose information about the three qualified bidders for the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo).
Arroyo, chairman of the Senate committee on public services and a member of the Joint Congressional Power Commission, said he asked PSALM for the ownership structure of each of the three qualified bidders as part of the responsibilities of Congress.
But PSALM, as expected, told Arroyo that the confidentiality agreement between them and the bidders prohibits it from declaring the identities of those who make up the companies awarded the right to bid.
"TransCo is owned by the government 100 percent, ergo, it is owned 100 percent by the public. Bidding it out must be transparent 100 percent because it is taxpayers’ money involved," Arroyo said in a statement.
PSALM president Nieves Osorio recently announced that three investor groups have passed the financial and technical criteria for the Dec. 20 bidding for 25-year contract to run TransCo.
This would be the fourth attempt by the government to privatize its power transmission network since 2003.
"True, there is such a thing as confidentiality provisions in bidding contracts. They are fairly common when it involves transactions between one private company and another private company. But not when it involves public funds," Arroyo said.
"PSALM went beyond its powers by binding itself to a confidentiality agreement that forbids Congress from even asking the identities of the people behind the corporate bidders," he added.
Arroyo reminded PSALM about the $525-million sale of the Masinloc power facility to the YNN Pacific-Ranhill Berhad consortium, which he said "failed miserably."
He recalled that Masinloc was awarded to the company with a paid-in capital of only P800,000 whose office was located at a warehouse without any desk.
"TransCo is worth four times that. P100 billion. And Congress cannot have a peep as to who are the bidders? Who can peep and who can know? Only a select few," Arroyo said.
Arroyo emphasized that the privatization of Transco will be the biggest transaction ever in Philippine history so all the more reason that Congress should be informed about its details.
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