TRANS-ASIA Oil and Energy Development Corp. (TA) said on Thursday it will tap the balance of its stock-rights offering (SRO) proceeds amounting to P373.4 million to pay for the power barges it acquired from the government.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange, TA said the board approved the use of the remaining amount accumulated from its 2007, 2011 and 2012 SRO for the purchase of National Power Corp. (Napocor) power barges (PB) 101 to 103.
“The SRO funds were earmarked for, among others, power-project opportunities and investments in privatization of Napocor and Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) assets. The use of SRO proceeds frees up the company’s internally generated cash to fund future projects,” TA said.
The three power barges are worth P420 million.
The acquisition of these barges will add to TA’s growing power-generation portfolio, which already includes diesel-power plants in Norzagaray, Bulacan; Bacnotan, La Union; Guimaras and Subic; the 52-megawatt (MW) wind farm in San Lorenzo, Guimaras; the Maibarara geothermal plant, a portion of the Sem-Calaca power plant; a 40-MW capacity from the Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plant; and the 135-MW coal-power plant in Calaca, Batangas through South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp., a 50-50 joint venture with AC Energy Holdings Inc. “The power barges are used for power generation and TA intends to continue and devote the assets for such use,” it added.
It can be recalled that in October 2013, the PSALM auctioned the three power barges and declared SPC Island Power Corp. as the winner after it submitted the highest bid for these assets. However, it later on withdrew its bid offer.
Back then TA’s bid stood at P370.52 million. It is the second-highest bid next to SPC’s P545.89 million.
Later on, SPC had informed PSALM that it decided not to pursue its winning bid because PB103 was heavily damaged by Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) in November 2013. The three PBs were sold as one package, hence, SPC must give up the two other PBs as the bid consists of all three PBs.
After which, PSALM and TA negotiated the sale of the power barges given up by SPC.
PBs 101, 102 and 103 are nominal 32-MW barge-mounted bunker-fired diesel-generating power stations that consist of four identical Hitachi-Sulzer diesel generator units.