By Alena Mae S. Flores

Listed Aboitiz Power Corp. has expressed interest to participate in the bidding for the contract to operate the 700-megawatt Pagbilao coal plant in Quezon and the 1,000-MW Sual coal plant in Pangasinan, a company official said.

Steve Paradies, chief finance officer of Aboitiz Equity Ventures, said Aboitiz Power submitted a letter of interest to Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., the agency in charge of privatizing government?s power assets, to participate in the bidding set for February 20, 2009.

?We bought the bidding documents so we can study the prospects of the Sual and Pagbilao power plants,? Paradies told reporters.

Paradies said the company was ?still in the process of studying the terms.?

?We will know if we bid once we completed our due diligence,? the Aboitiz official said.

PSALM earlier said four bidders have expressed interest to participate in the bidding for the IPP administrators of the Pagbilao and Sual coal plants.

IPPAs are qualified independent entities that will administer and manage the energy output contracted by National Power Corp. with independent power producers operating in Luzon and the Visayas.

PSALM said companies must submit a bid for both the Pagbilao IPPA and Sual IPPA.

?The said bids are separate and distinct from each other, hence, one bid each must be submitted for the Pagbilao and Sual IPPA. There shall be separate awards for the Pagbilao IPPA and Sual IPPA. A bidder can only be declared the winning bidder for either the Pagbilao IPPA or Sual IPPA,? PSALM said.