Five firms keen on supplying 660 MW to Meralco for summer

By Alena Mae S. Flores – January 22, 2024, 7:10 pm
from manilastandard.net

Five companies participated in the pre-bid conference for Manila Electric Co.’s competitive selection process (CSP) or bidding covering its combined 660 megawatts (MW) of interim supply requirement in preparation for the expected increase in demand during the dry months.

Meralco on Monday held the pre-bid conference for its 260-MW peaking requirement where 1590 Energy Corp. of Vivant Energy Corp. and San Roque Hydro Power Inc. of San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMGP) attended.

Power suppliers of the 260-MW peaking capacity will ensure 100-percent availability of the contract capacity for 12 hours daily covering the peak hours from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Three firms also expressed interest for Meralco’s 400-MW baseload requirement, including First NatGas Power Corp. of First Gen Corp., Limay Power Inc. with San Roque Hydro Power Inc. and Masinloc Power Co. Ltd.

Both Limay/San Roque and Masinloc Power are subsidiaries of SMGP.

Meralco’s 400-MW capacity requirement will come from baseload supply, where each unit of the plant should be capable of generating its rated capacity for 24/7.

The CSP followed the Department of Energy’s (DOE) issuance of a certificate of conformity on the terms of reference (TOR) for the interim power supply agreements (IPSAs) covering the said supply requirements this year.

Meralco said power demand historically increases during the dry months on expected lower output from the hydro plants.

The 260-MW and 400-MW IPSAs will be effective until July 2024 and February 2025, respectively.

Bid submission deadline for the 260-MW peaking requirement and 400-MW baseload requirement are on Feb. 26 and 27, respectively.