Nine out of 10 interested groups will participate in the bidding for the 747-megawatt (MW) Tiwi-Makban geothermal power complex on June 4, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said Monday.

The parties sent their respective letters of interest to PSALM before March 12, the deadline for submission.

However, one of the parties was not able to submit its participation fee within the deadline, and thus, will not be able to join the auction.

Of the nine interested groups, PSALM said five are from the Philippines, two are from Europe, one is from North America, and one is from the Asia-Pacific Region.

Two of the investor groups had earlier participated in the first round of bidding for the Tiwi-Makban geothermal plants in 2005 but PSALM had to defer the said bidding to update transaction documents and bidding procedures.

Located in Tiwi, Albay province, the Tiwi geothermal power facility consists of three plants, namely, Plant A with two 60-MW units, Plant B with two 55-MW units, and Plant C with two 57-MW units. Plant B’s Unit 4 was retired or decommissioned in 2003.

The Makban plant complex in Laguna and Batangas consists of Plants A and B with two 63-MW units each, Plant C with two 55-MW units, Plants D and E with two 20-MW units each, and a binary plant with five 3-MW and one 0.73-MW units.

A pre-bid conference for the plants will be held on April 2 to give potential bidders an opportunity to clarify issues and concerns about the bid transaction documents.