Meralco to hold auction for 1,000-MW baseload supply
By Lenie Lectura – August 21, 2024
from Business Mirror
The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said Tuesday it will resume the competitive selection process (CSP) for its 1,000-megawatt (MW) supply requirement.
In a bid bulletin for the CSP of 600 megawatts (MW) of baseload capacity, the Bids and Awards Committee-Power Supply Agreements (BAC-PSA) has moved the bid submission deadline to August 27 from August 2.
The CSP for the 600MW baseload capacity involves a 15-year PSA intended for delivery in August 2025.
Previously, eight firms had expressed interest to supply Meralco the 600MW baseload capacity which will be sourced mostly from coal power plants that must run 24 hours a day.
First Gas Power Corp., First NatGas Power Corp., GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co., Mariveles Power Generation Corp., Masinloc Power Co. Ltd., Quezon Power (Philippines), Limited Co., Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp., and Therma Luzon Inc. have signified interest to participate in the competitive auction.
The total offered capacity from eight bidders stood at 1,870MW vis-a-vis the 600MW requirement.
“We will now resume the bidding procedures for the 600 MW and 400 MW CSPs, for which new bid bulletins will be issued particularly with respect to the timelines,” a statement from Meralco said.
The company has yet to release the new bidding schedule for the 400MW mid-merit capacity requirement.
“We hope to issue corresponding bid bulletin on the resumption of the 400MW CSP by today or tomorrow,” said BAC-PSA Chairman Lawrence Fernandez in a Viber message.
With the mid-merit power supply, the gap between the baseload and peaking plants will be filled.
The 400MW baseload supply, which is intended for delivery on August 26, 2025, also involves a 15-year PSA.
Meralco announced the resumption after the temporary restraining order against the implementation of the CSPs was lifted and the petition for injunction was dismissed.
“We welcome the decision of the Taguig Regional Trial Court (RTC)…This allows us to continue our efforts to secure our power supply requirements in the least cost manner, consistent with our mandate.
We likewise reiterate that all CSPs for our supply requirements are strictly conducted in accordance with existing rules of Department of Energy and Energy Regulatory Commission which have the primary jurisdiction over the CSPs,” it said.
Last month, Meralco said it expects full-year core income to reach P43 billion this year, higher than its earlier guidance of P40 billion, after the utility firm posted strong and improved numbers particularly in May, when it posted record sales.
“Due to Meralco’s strong operational and financial performance in the first half of the year, we are prepared to upgrade our initial guidance of P40-billion CCNI [consolidated core net income] to P43 billion for the full year 2024,” Meralco Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a statement.
