Manila Electric Co., the biggest retailer of electricity, is seeking to diversify power generation sources while balancing the supply cost, its top official said over the weekend.
“In a way it’s different because natural gas is gas and solar is solar. It can’t be all coal, it can’t be all gas. So we’re trying to diversify fuel sources just in case. For example, if a typhoon hits a particular area and solar is affected, you have other sources, so it’s good for Meralco to diversify,” Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.
Meralco is reviewing the offer of P2.99 per kilowatt-hour by Solar Philippines in response to Meralco’s invitation for a price challenge of an unsolicited proposal by First NatGas Power Corp. to supply 414 MW from its San Gabriel gas power plant.
Solar Philippines did not say where it would obtain the supply, while San Gabriel power plant started operating.
Pangilinan said Meralco did not want to be seen as favoring any particular supplier and was taking seriously its mandate “to source the least cost.”
“On the other hand, we must also diversify the sources because if you’re dependent on just a single source, then that’s not good,” he said.
Pangilinan said Meralco was buying 35 percent from natural gas plants and also signed up supply agreements with solar power stations.
Pangilinan, meanwhile, said there was no danger of a power shortage during the dry months, although it was hard to determine if power plants would suddenly go offline.
Power supply during the dry months are historically tight given the high demand due to hotter temperatures and lower output from hydro plants.
“If there’s an unexpected shutdown of plants, all we know is that the margins continue to be rather tight. So in the near term, there’s nothing we can do. It takes time for new plants to be finished. So far, the weather has been cooperating, it’s pretty cool so there’s not danger there,” he said.
