MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) has started seeking bidders for 1,200-megawatt (MW) baseload capacity to ensure continued supply of electricity for its customers, the power distributor said on Thursday.
In a statement, the company said it is calling on interested power generation companies to participate in a competitive selection process (CSP), the government’s mandatory policy requiring distribution utilities to choose the least-cost electricity supply via a competitive bid.
The deadline to submit an expression of interest is on Dec. 11, while a pre-bid conference will be held on Dec. 18. Submission of bids is set for Jan. 23, 2024.
The 1,200-MW baseload supply seeks to replace the terminated power supply agreements (PSAs) with South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC) covering 670 MW; San Miguel Energy Corp. — now known as Sual Power, Inc. (SPI) — covering 330 MW; and the 200-MW unsolicited proposal from Solar Philippines Batangas Baseload Corp. (SPBBC).
SPPC is the administrator of the natural gas-fired power plant in Ilijan, Batangas while SPI is the administrator of the coal power plant in Sual, Pangasinan. The two are subsidiaries of San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp., the power arm of San Miguel Corp. (SMC).
Meralco has a 300-MW emergency power supply agreement with SPPC, which started from March 26 until March 25, 2024.
The Department of Energy (DoE) issued a certificate of conformity on the terms of reference (TOR) for the 15-year PSAs, it said, which will be effective once approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
The TOR followed through the advisory released by the DoE last month, which mandated DUs to conduct CSP for power supply, sourcing a portion of the energy requirements from natural gas-fired power plants.
Meralco said power suppliers with natural gas-fired power plants “are highly encouraged to participate in the bidding.”
It said the CSP, which was based on Meralco’s DoE-approved power supply procurement plan, “is meant to meet the power distributor’s future capacity requirements, including the 1,000 MW (net) supply that was covered by its PSAs with change in circumstance cases that are pending resolution.”
Earlier this month, Meralco also started the bidding for the 1,800-MW baseload capacity that was meant to replace the terminated PSAs with Excellent Energy Resources, Inc. (EERI) and Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd. (MPPCL), which were terminated earlier this year.
The ERC approved the termination after their PSA application went past the date during which it should have been approved by the regulator.
Six entities have expressed interest in participating in the bidding, namely: GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co., First NatGas Power Corp., SP New Energy Corp., Mariveles Power Generation Corp., EERI, and MPPCL.
The bid submission deadline is on Dec. 26.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc.
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