Bidders air concerns on Meralco CSP

By Lenie Lectura – December 18, 2020
from Business Mirror

Interested bidders for the upcoming Competitive Selection Process (CSP) to supply the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) 1,800 megawatts (MW) of power convened late Thursday to discuss their concerns.

“There were a variety of concerns, touching on the terms of reference, the PSA (power supply agreement) template and many others. The Third Party Bids and Awards Committee (TPBAC) will be releasing a Bid Bulletin next week containing written responses to all queries submitted by all bidders,” said Meralco utility economics head Lawrence Fernandez in a text message.

Meralco has received a total of 18 Expressions of Interest (EOIs) to join the competitive action. It refused to divulge the bidders’ identities.

A pre-bid conference was held on Thursday afternoon. TPBAC members led by the captive customer representatives Chairman Ferdinand Domingo and former Trade Secretary Adrian Cristobal Jr. were present. The Department of Energy (DOE) sent an observer while the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) declined to send observers because the power supply agreements that will result from any CSP would still have to be reviewed by the agency.

“Seventeen bidders were represented by their authorized representatives while one bidder advised the secretariat that they would not be participating in the pre-bid conference,” he added. “The TPBAC thanked the bidders for their active participation in the pre-bid conference, which had to be conducted virtually in consideration of the prevailing circumstances.”

The 18 EOIs were submitted by several power firms that offered capacity totaling 6,050MW, utilizing a variety of technologies.

“The bidders have until December 24 to submit additional queries to the TPBAC’s responses to their original queries. The next step is the bid submission on January 25, 2021,” added Fernandez.

Among the power firms that have verbally indicated their interest to participate in the CSP in the past are Atimonan One Energy, Inc. (A1E), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen); San Miguel Corp.’s power unit; Consunji-led Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC);  Aboitiz Power Corp.; and possibly AC Energy.

The winning bidders will secure a 20-year power supply agreement (PSA) with Meralco.