SPBBC eyes deal with Meralco

BY LENIE LECTURA – AUGUST 8, 2022
from Business Mirror

Solar Philippines Batangas Baseload Corp. (SPBBC), a subsidiary of Solar Philippines, has offered to supply the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) with up to 200 megawatts (MW) of solar-plus-storage hybrids that can provide baseload power.

Meralco’s third-party bids and awards committee granted the original proponent status to SPBBC. It will source the 200MW from the 1800 MW of solar and 1800 MWh of battery storage that it is developing in Nasugbu, Tuy, and Balayan, Batangas.

SPBBC’s offer price is P4.65 per kilowatt hour (kWh) for 20 years, inclusive of value-added tax and other charges. The rate, it claimed, is 20 to 40 percent cheaper than the cost of fossil fueled generation in the Philippines.

“We are grateful for this opportunity to show that solar with batteries can deliver cost-competitive baseload power. We thank Meralco for leading the market in the adoption of renewable energy, and look forward to realizing this project for the benefit of consumers,” said Solar Philippines founder Leandro Leviste.

Meralco utility economics head Lawrence Fernandez said separately via Viber that the Third Party Bids and Awards Committee would have to be informed by Meralco if the terms of reference (TOR) had been submitted to the Department of Energy (DOE) for approval.

“A competitive selection process can be initiated only after the DOE approves the proposed TOR,” he said.