Power retailer Manila Electric Co. said Thursday it executed an emergency power supply agreement with Aboitiz Power Corp.-controlled GNPower Dinginin Ltd. for the supply of 300-megawatt baseload capacity covering Dec. 15, 2022 to Jan. 25, 2023.
The EPSA will partially replace the 670-MW capacity under Meralco’s 2019 power supply agreement with SMC Global Power Holdings Corp.’s subsidiary South Premiere Power Corp., which was subjected to a 60-day temporary restraining order issued by the Court of Appeals.
“Meralco exhausts all measures to continue supplying its customers with sufficient and reliable power while mitigating the impact of the TRO on its customers,” Meralco said in a statement.
GNPower Dinginin offered P5.96 per kilowatt-hour, higher than SPPC’s contract of P4.30 per kWh under the 2019 PSA.
The rate is slightly higher than what SPPC and Meralco presented and applied for the ERC under the temporary rate hike petition, which the commission rejected.
GNPower Dinginin is a 1,336-MW coal-fired power plant in Mariveles, Bataan.
Meralco said the GNPower Dinginin EPSA would lessen its exposure to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the trading floor of electricity, and “partly shield its customers from volatile and potentially higher generation costs.”
WESM prices reached more than P9 per kWh as of Dec. 11.
Meralco’s EPSA was granted by the Department of Energy an exemption from the competitive selection process following the cessation of supply of SPPC starting Dec. 7.
SPPC earlier announced it would stop supplying to Meralco following the CA decision. This prompted Meralco to look for other suppliers or tap the WESM.
SMCGP asked the ERC for a temporary rate increase, citing gas constraints for SPPC’s Ilijan plant and an unprecedented rise in coal prices for the 1,200-MW Sual coal plant in Pangasinan under San Miguel Energy Corp.
Meralco is also negotiating with SPPC for the full capacity of the 1,200-MW Ilijan natural gas plant in Batangas, but they have yet to firm up the deal.
The power retail is in talks with First Gen Corp. to divert supply from the latter’s natural gas plants to the Ilijan plant. Meralco is the country’s biggest power distributor, with over seven million customers in its franchise area.