Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) has withdrawn its bid to acquire the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) hydroelectric power plant complex in Laguna province due to a “limited portfolio.”

“On CBK, when I joined MGen, we decided that we would limit our limited resources. Today, there’s still the limited portfolio that we have to provide at least the value for CBK that would be competitive,” MGen President and CEO Emmanuel V. Rubio said in an interview with reporters.

MGen initially expressed interest in the privatization of CBK by submitting a Letter of Intention. However, after careful consideration, the company decided to withdraw from the bidding process.

“We decided not to proceed with that. I think we let the others (bid) with a bigger portfolio,” Rubio said.

“If there’s a GEAP (Green Energy Auction Program) for pump storage, it would be difficult to value CBK if you're competing with a pump storage and a GEAP,” he explained.

Earlier this year, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto mentioned that the government is likely to raise between ₱50 billion to ₱100 billion from the privatization of the 796.64-megawatt (MW) plant.

The CBK plant complex operates under a 25-year build-rehabilitate-operate-transfer and power purchase agreement between CBK Power Company Limited and the National Power Corp., which will expire in February 2026.

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) recently closed the sale of the 165-megawatt Casecnan hydroelectric power plant in Nueva Ecija to Fresh River Lakes Corp., a subsidiary of the Lopez Group’s First Gen Corp., for $526 million.

PSALM is also studying the rehabilitation of the Agus-Pulangi hydro complex in Mindanao, which is estimated to be worth around $350 million according to previous World Bank estimates.

Additionally, PSALM plans to privatize and dispose of the 200-MW Mindanao coal-fired power plant, 72 hectares of real estate assets in Bagac, Diliman, Sucat, and Baguio, as well as land underlying independent power producer plants.

PSALM was created under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 to manage the assets and liabilities of National Power Corp. It sought a 30-year life extension.

In 2021, the House Committee on Energy approved the measure extending the corporate life of PSALM.