At least three groups have expressed interest to participate in the bidding for the management of independent power producer (IPP) contracts of the National Power Corp. for the Sual and Pagbilao coal-fired power plants, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said Thursday.

In a statement, PSALM said the three prospective bidders include a local company and two foreign firms. The agency did not give the names of the said investor groups.

PSALM said the bidding for the IPP contracts attached to the two plants operated by Japanese consortium Team Energy Philippines will start on June 26. The schedule was originally moved from May 27.

The 1,700-megawatt aggregate contracted capacities of the Sual and Pagbilao power plants represent about 34.7 percent of the contracted capacity of the IPP contracts for Luzon and Visayas.

This is 35.3 percent short of the 70-percent requirement to privatize the contracted capacities under the IPP contracts to meet the last precondition for open access and retail competition, as stipulated in Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Indutry Reform Act.

This year, PSALM has lined up six IPP contracts for privatization, with IPPAs managing the contracted capacities of the government in the IPP power plants. The agency is expecting to generate about P13 billion in revenues from the said process.

After Sual and Pagbilao, PSALM said it will bid out IPP contracts for the Casecnan, Bakun, and San Roque hydropower plants, which have contracted capacities of 140 MW, 70, MW, and 95 MW, respectively.

PSALM said the third phase in the IPPA selection process will involve the sale of the 1,200-MW contracted capacity in the Ilijan natural gas plant in Luzon, which has a take-or-pay contract with its gas suppliers.