Meralco starts bidding for 1,200-MW power supply

The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) on Thursday announced the start of its competitive bidding for 1,200 megawatts (MW) of power supply requirement.

In a statement, Meralco said it started the competitive selection process (CSP) for its 1,200-MW baseload requirement as it seeks power suppliers “to ensure continued availability of sufficient and reliable supply for its customers.”

CSP is a form of competitive public bidding for distribution companies' purchase of electricity.

The power distributor said the conduct of CSP came after the Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Certificate of Conformity on the Terms of Reference (TOR) for its 15-year Power Supply Agreements (PSAs), “which will be effective once approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission.”

“Through its Bids and Awards Committee for PSAs, Meralco called on interested power generation companies to participate in the CSP, with the Submission of Expression of Interest due on December 11, 2023,” the company said.

The pre-bid conference is scheduled on December 18, 2023, while the bid submission deadline is set on January 23, 2024.

Citing the TOR, Meralco said, that pursuant to the DOE’s advisory on the conduct of CSP for power supply using indigenous natural gas as transition fuel, “power suppliers with natural-gas fired power plants are highly encouraged to participate in the bidding.”

The TOR, moreover, stated that the operations effective date for the initial 810 MW would be on December 26, 2023, while additional 200 MW and 190 MW would be effective by February 26 and March 26, 2024, respectively.

“This CSP, which was based on Meralco’s DOE-approved Power Supply Procurement Plan, is meant to meet the power distributor’s future capacity requirements, including the 1,000 MW (net) supply that was covered by its PSAs with change in circumstance cases that are pending resolution,” Meralco said. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News