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Energy Secretary Sharon Garin (Courtesy: Sharon S. Garin)
The Department of Energy may resume this month the bidding process for coal blocks on Semirara Island in Antique province and coal areas in Cagayan and Isabela, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said.
The department paused the Semirara auction while it works out how to evaluate brownfield projects, Garin said.
“Semirara auction is on hold right now because we are still trying to figure out how to treat it,” Garin said.
“Because Semirara is unique because it is not new. Old contract, existing project, proven project,” she said.
The department hopes to reach a decision within the month and issue enhanced rules for evaluating brownfield applications, Garin said.
“The rules of the DOE right now is for new projects, meaning greenfield, while for brownfield, we are still figuring it out,” Garin said.
“We’re working with the DOF, NEDA and even DENR to figure out how to treat brownfield projects’ extension or renewal,” she said.
Garin reiterated that a lawsuit filed by Semirara Mining and Power Corp. will not affect the bidding for the government-offered coal blocks.
Semirara Mining asked a Makati court Friday for protection against repeated demands from the Department of Energy to disclose proprietary information, including a comprehensive list of its assets. The department plans to share that information with other bidders for the Semirara mine.
“No, the bidding will not be affected because the bidding is a separate issue,” Garin said.
“This is more like the DOE is asking for the information that under contract and under policy we are supposed to gather from our contractors, including the assets because of the relevance of that,” she said.
The department launched a competitive bid round for coal development and production areas, including 10 blocks on Semirara Island, under the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program.
Semirara Mining said that it owns the assets by virtue of its coal operating contract and the Coal Development Act, and said the equipment should not be made available to other bidders or considered in their submissions.
The government can claim ownership of the assets only if the company fails to remove them from the production and exploration area within one year after its contract terminates in July 2027, the company said.
“Government ownership of these assets is merely future and conditional,” Semirara Mining said in a statement.
“The bidding is supposed to choose a winner that has a viable mine plan and knows how to run one to make sure coal production is seamless to protect the country’s baseload electricity generation. It is not about SMPC and how it runs the minem” it said.
The government has yet to receive the company’s filing, Garin said, adding it will not delay the bidding timeline because the department has enough information to proceed.
The energy department directed the company in four separate letters to submit detailed geological, technical and equipment data, including information on pumps specially reconfigured to manage a heavy flow of water into the Acacia mine.
The petition is not intended to delay the bidding process but to clarify a legal issue that could harm the company’s financial interests, Semirara Mining said. The company said it remains committed to participating in the bid and that the filing has no impact on its ongoing mining operations, which will continue normally until its current contract expires in July 2027.
The auction offers qualified firms the chance to develop coal resources through new contracts across 10 blocks on Semirara Island covering 10,000 hectares. The blocks have estimated reserves of 160 million metric tons.
— Alena Mae S. Flores
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Credit belongs to: www.manilastandard.net
