Italian, Asian firms bid for TransCo
Friday, October 27, 2006
By MYRNA M. VELASCO
The three investor-groups likely to advance their bid for the 25-year concession contract of the spinoff National Transmission Corporation (TransCo) have been identified as a mix of Italian and Asian large power utilities.
These are Terna — Rete Elettrica Nazionale SpA of Italy; Tenaga Nasional Berhad of Malaysia and State Grid Corporation of China, a ranking energy official has affirmed.
It was gathered that Terna will be joining the TransCo auction with the Delgado group which are into diversified interests such as shipping, petroleum retailing, banking and telecommunications; while it was not exactly known who among the prospective local investors - such as the Metro Pacific Investment Corporation of businessman Manuel Pangilinan and the group of San Miguel Corporation magnate Eduardo Cojuangco — would position as partners for Tenaga and State Grid.
The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) already notified the investors that the bidding, initially scheduled this November 7, will be delayed for one month.
"The postponement is a relief for us because no one is actually ready for the bidding at this point," commented one of the representative of the investor groups.
In the face of expected firm interest by the current batch of investors, PSALM is expecting that TransCo’s privatization would finally push through; given that all processes be undertaken judiciously and with much caution.
Terna is a listed company taking charge of electricity transmission and dispatching over the highvoltage and extra-high voltage grid throughout Italy.
Tenaga, on the other hand, operates the National Grid of Malaysia with 132 kilovolt (kV), 275 kV and 500 kV transmission networks; with the system stretched in the whole of Peninsular Malaysia.
Meanwhile, State Grid has five large power networks covering northeast, northwest, north China, east China and central China and three independent provincial (regional) power grids. It has 500 kV backbone frames formed in the trans-provincial grids and Shandong Power Grid, except the 330 kV grids frame in the Northwest of China.
While at the thick of preparations for the bidding, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development unit of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have expressed to PSALM their willingness to extend guarantees to the winning bidder of TransCo’s 25-year concession.
The two multilateral lending firms, in a notice to bidders, indicated that they are "prepared, in principle, to consider provision of an IBRD partial risk guarantee and ADB guarantee, if such guarantees are requested by a potential bidder."
It was pointed out that the guarantees are "intended to protect the concession against certain payment defaults resulting from the failure of the government to meet its contractual obligations under the concession documents."
In turn, these lending institutions will require the Republic the Philippines to provide a counterindemnity for the guarantees for the concession. (MMV)
posted by philpower @ 7:29 AM,
