Meralco opens bidding for 600-MW supply

By Alena Mae S. Flores – June 12, 2024, 8:40 pm
from manilastandard.net

Power retailer Manila Electric Company (Meralco) said Wednesday it launched the competitive selection process (CSP) or bidding for 600 megawatts (MW) of baseload supply to meet its requirements next year.

Meralco said in a statement this followed the Department of Energy’s (DOE) issuance of a certificate of conformity to the approved-power supply procurement plan for the terms of reference (TOR) of the latest CSP.

The TOR provides that “power suppliers with natural gas fired power plants are highly encouraged to participate in the Bidding and prioritize the use of indigenous natural gas.”

This CSP involves a 15-year power supply agreement (PSA) which is targeted to start by Aug. 26, 2025.

Meralco’s bids and awards committee for PSAs set the deadline for submission of interest on June 25, 2024. The pre-bid conference is scheduled on July 4, while the bid submission deadline is Aug. 2.

The conduct of CSPs is part of Meralco’s continuing efforts to ensure the availability of reliable, sufficient and cost-competitive power for customers.

Meralco recently started the bidding for 500 MW of mid-merit renewable energy (RE) capacity. The 10-year power supply agreement (PSA) will cover Meralco’s 350-MW mid-merit requirement starting February 2025, which will increase by 150 MW beginning February 2026.

Meralco, through its bids and awards committee for PSAs, set the bid submission deadline on July 17.

The conduct of the CSP is in compliance with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) policy on renewable portfolio standards (RPS) and forms part of the company’s commitment to source an increasing portion of its supply requirements from RE sources.

RPS is a policy mechanism that requires electric power industry participants such as generators, distribution utilities and suppliers to source or produce a specified fraction of their electricity from eligible RE resources.

It is set at 2.5 percent of electricity sales allocation for distribution utilities connected to the grid.

Meralco contracted 1,880 MW of RE capacity from various suppliers—exceeding its initial target of 1,500 MW as part of its long-term sustainability strategy.

RE is expected to account for 22 percent of Meralco’s supply portfolio by 2030.