By MYRNA M. VELASCO
To finally get headway with the privatization of the contracts of National Power Corporation (NPC) with the independent power producers (IPPs), the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) bared that it will engage another consultant to complete work on all the processes involved.
The consultancy project will be financed by the World Bank; and will complement the work already done by British Power International which was funded then by the Asian Development Bank.
PSALM vice president for asset management and electricity trading Froilan A. Tampinco said they expect to tap the next advisor within this quarter so the hiring of IPP administrators would finally be accomplished.
If the IPPAs would be in place to take charge of trading the capacity covering IPP contracts at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, it was noted that collusion and price manipulations of market participants can be avoided.
It must be noted that one of the key recommendations put forward by the Philippine Electricity Market (PEM) Board at the height of the investigations on the alleged price manipulation at WESM was the immediate hiring of IPP administrators to replace PSALM in its capacity trading function for the IPPs.
"We will probably complete the bidding of the hiring of another consultant within the first quarter," Tampinco stressed; adding that they have been encountering some concerns along the way because the concept of IPP administrator would be a pioneering effort that the country’s power industry would have to embark on.
It was noted that there was no model to learn from because even power markets overseas have not done this as a strategy to privatize the IPP contracts.
Once the World Bank-sponsored advisor is appointed, PSALM is expecting that they can already move ahead with the bidding for the IPP administrator contracts by the fourth quarter of this year.
The company is eyeing to engage the IPPAs through a competitive bidding selection; and the plan is to woo international power industry players and traders to be engaged as IPP administrators.
PSALM and other policymakers have been incessantly pressed on a more clear-cut policy on the role the IPPAs would have to assume in the operations of the deregulated electricity market.
Some of the issues being thrown their way are: if the IPPAs would be managing portfolio of power plants based on fuel types; or regional groupings, or if there are other considerations that would eventually come into play.
It was explained that the IPPAs would handle the transaction, primarily in the biddings of the NPCcontracted IPPs with the WESM.
|
