By Alena Mae S. Flores

National Grid Corp. Philippines, the consortium that won a 25-year concession to operate the facility of National Transmission Corp., will take over and operate the country?s transmission by next week, a company source said.

?We are ready to take over by Jan. 15 and we are excited and honored to be given the privilege of managing the national transmission grid,? a source from the National Grid consortium said.

The consortium will pay the 40-percent down payment of nearly $1 billion prior to the takeover. The local counterpart of the consortium, which makes up 60 percent of the equity, has handed its payment to Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.

The local group of the consortium is composed of Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp. and Calaca High Power Corp., which paid around $592.5 million.

Monte Oro Grid is 100 percent owned by Monte Oro Resources and Energy Inc. It was established on Aug. 29, 2006 to invest and hold interest in shares of stocks of companies engaged in mining, energy exploration and infrastructure projects as well as in government privatization or similar projects.

Calaca High Power is in the business of operating, managing, maintaining and rehabilitating energy systems and services for gas, steam and electricity.

State Grid Corp., which controls China?s transmission highway, owns 40 percent of National Grid. The company is expected to pay the balance of the down payment of $395 million today.

The consortium won after offering the highest bid of $3.95 billion during an aution in December 2007.

National Grid will pay the balance in semi-annual increments over 20 years.

?We promise to bring in a higher level of efficiency, transparency and financial viability to the company,? a company source said.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo last year approved and signed into law the franchise bill application of National Grid, which paved the way for the down payment and the turnover of the facilities.

National Grid was incorporated on Feb. 22, 2008. Six Filipinos representing Monte Oro Grid and Calaca High Power and four Chinese representing State Grid Hong Kong Ltd. were listed as incorporators.

State Grid is a Hong Kong-based company wholly owned by State Grid, the largest electric power provider in China . It ranks 29th in the 2007 Fortune Global 500, the highest ranked electric power company in the list.

State Grid is the second largest state-owned enterprise in China, with more than 145 million customers and annual revenue of more than $107 billion.