Meralco seeks suppliers for 1.2-GW power

The Manila Electric Co. or Meralco on Thursday announced the start of the Competitive Selection Process or CSP for 1,200 megawatts or MW of baseload requirement—a move that helps the company safeguard uninterrupted power supply to customers.

In a press statement, Meralco Bids and Awards Committee for Power Supply Agreements or PSA said interested power generation companies may send their Submission of Expression of Interest until 11 December.

The Committee scheduled the Pre-Bid Conference on 18 December, while the Bid Submission Deadline is set for 23 January 2024.

Meralco has already secured a Certificate of Conformity on the Terms of Reference or TOR from the Department of Energy or DoE.

However, it noted that the CSP for the 15-year Power Supply Agreements or PSAs will only be effective once it is approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission or ERC.

Natgas preferred

Based on the TOR, power suppliers with natural-gas-fired power plants are "highly encouraged" to participate in the bidding.

It further requires that the operations effective date for the initial 810 MW would be on 26 December, while the additional 200 MW and 190 MW would be effective by 26 February and 26 March 2024, respectively.

Particularly, Meralco said this recent CSP will help meet the power distributor's future capacity requirements, including the 1,000 MW supply that was covered by its PSAs with "change in circumstance cases that are pending resolution."

The DoE No. DC2018-02-0003 entitled, "Adopting and Prescribing the Policy for the Competitive Selection Process in the Procurement by the Distribution Utilities of Power Supply Agreement for the Captive Market" governs the CSP.

The CSP refers to the process whereby a power supplier is chosen to supply the electric power requirements of a distribution utility through transparent and competitive bidding to secure supply.

The CSP policy aims to promote the needs of the consumers as per the Distribution Development Plan and Power Supply Procurement Plans of the Distribution Utilities or DUs.

In turn, DUs like Meralco are required to embrace the principle of technology neutrality and consider the reliability of energy services in the least cost manner. They should also meet the demand of their captive market at any given time.