The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has offered to provide a Standby Facility Support of up to US$250M to the winning bidder of the 25-year TransCo concession contract. The ADB offer is equal to the amount proposed by the World Bank earlier this year.
The prequalification documents were handed over to PSALM on 21 September 2007 before 12 noon, the deadline for submission set by the PSALM Privatization Bids and Awards Committee.
PSALM declined to identify the members of the five consortia, citing the confidentiality agreement between the government privatization arm and the prospective bidders. The list of prequalified bidders will be released after the evaluation of documents is completed. The evaluation process starts immediately. This will include checking the veracity of the submitted technical documents to prove the existence of the bidders' respective qualifying electricity transmission systems.
The second stage of the TransCo privatization process, the prequalification procedure enables PSALM to assess the financial and technical capabilities of the investor groups interested in bidding for the TransCo concession. The procedure assures strict compliance with the provisions stipulated in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.
The prequalification process is also conducted to ensure that only serious bidders with proven domestic or international experience as a leading transmission system operator will be qualified to participate in the formal bidding slated on 12 December 2007.
Bidders for the TransCo concession must have a member or affiliate with experience in operating and maintaining electricity transmission systems comparable to that of the Philippines, consisting of not less than 6000 circuit km of transmission lines operating at 115kV or higher and including within it a system operating at not less than 230kV and having a peak demand of at least 6000 MW.
