Meralco PowerGen Corporation (MGen) has expressed interest in revisiting the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) hydropower complex, depending on specific deal structures.
Emmanuel V. Rubio, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of MGen, shared in an ambush interview that they may revisit the 796.64 megawatts (MW) CBK hydropower facility after the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) canceled the independent power producer administrator (IPPA) privatization plan.
“It [reassessing the asset] depends on how PSALM would package CBK,” he told reporters. “CBK apparently is not going to be an IPPA; it’s an asset sale.”
In a previous report by Manila Bulletin, it was stated that CBK’s privatization would shift to an outright sale once its build-rehabilitate-operate-transfer (BROT) contract concludes next year. PSALM is expected to hold a new bid through direct asset sale, as the independent power producer (IPP) contract expires in 2026.
PSALM had originally planned to privatize the CBK asset last year but later postponed the plan to April.
However, it eventually shifted to a preliminary divestment strategy.
The remaining contract is set to be auctioned to private companies, including ACEN Corporation’s Giga Ace 11, First Gen Prime Energy Corporation, Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Marubeni Corporation, and Korea Water Resources Corporation.
MGen was initially included in the bidding but opted out of the auction last year due to generation capacity constraints within its portfolio.
Rubio also expressed support for the Philippine Independent Power Producers Association’s (PIPPA) stance on pursuing battery-related investments, citing a letter submitted by the association to the government.
“I support the position of PIPPA, just actually asking, what’s the government going to do with 4,000 MW of pumped storage in the green energy auction (GEA) when a cheaper alternative would be batteries providing the same service?” he said.