MANILA, Philippines - The governemnt's privatization agency, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), will auction off the contract to manage and operate the 1,200-megawatt (MW) Ilijan natural gas power plant on April 16.

If successful, PSALM will finally hurdle the 70% privatization threshold for independent power producer administrator (IPPA) contracts in the Luzon and Visayas grids this year. This is the last precondition for open access and retail competition as stipulated under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or EPIRA.

PSALM has already issued the invitation to bid for the Ilijan IPPA on Tuesday.

Interested investors wishing to participate are required to submit to PSALM a letter of interest not later than January 29.

The parties will also be required to execute a Confidentiality Agreement and an Undertaking with PSALM until February 5, and pay the participation fee of $10,000 to avail themselves of the bidding package, which will be issued from January 18 to February 8.

The pre-bid conference for the Ilijan IPPA will be held on February 11.

Located in Batangas, the Ilijan gas power plant is being operated by the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) through KEPCO Ilijan Corporation.

Aside from Ilijan, PSALM plans to sell the IPPA contracts for the Unified Leyte geothermal plants and the Malaya thermal plant this year.