MANILA, Philippines – The Aboitiz Group-led consortium has secured the winning bid for the large-scale hydroelectric facility located in Laguna province.
The State-led Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation announced on Friday that Thunder Consortium—which includes Aboitiz Renewables, Inc., Sumitomo Corporation, and Electric Power Development Co.—submitted the winning bid for the 796.64-megawatt Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) hydropower facility.
READ: AboitizPower aims to add around 400 MW of fresh power generation capacity before the close of 2026.
"The highest offer amounts to PHP 36.266 billion from the Aboitiz Group," stated Psalm President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Edward Dela Serna through a communication channel.
The bid was 84.87 percent greater than the P19.616-billion proposal from the only competing bidder, FWKG Consortium, which includes First Gen Hydro Power Corp. and Korea Water Resources Corp.
Similarly, the victorious consortium's proposal exceeded the approximately ₱33 billion minimum bidding amount established by the government-run company.
In his previous explanation, Psalm stated that the lowest bid price will be used as a reference point to assess the financial proposals from eligible bidders.
After the submission of financial bids opened on Friday, Psalm revealed the highest offer for the crucial power plant facility.
"The Thunder Consortium will go through a thorough post-screening procedure to confirm the validity and genuineness of the qualification documents they have provided," Psalm stated in an announcement made on Friday.
Psalm sold the hydropower facility located in the towns of Lumban, Majayjay, and Kalayaan in Laguna on an "as-is, wherever-it-stands" condition.
Lapsing contract
The hydropower facility is presently governed by a build-rehabilitate-operate-transfer arrangement and electricity supply contract between CBK Power Co. Ltd. and the National Power Corporation lasting 25 years, set to expire in February of next year.
The CBK hydropower plant is among the energy resources currently up for sale by Psalm as part of efforts to clear all debts and responsibilities inherited from Napocor.
The debt burden faced by Psalm has considerably decreased to ₱262.61 billion at the close of March compared to the high point of ₱1.24 trillion registered back in 2003.
Psalm, which had its corporate term renewed for an additional decade in April, has just sent a historic dividend payment of ₱8.96 billion to the National Treasury, signaling its "robust financial results" throughout fiscal year 2024.