State-run National Power Corp. (Napocor) is looking at bidding out four clusters under the Accelerated Hybridization Program (AHP), an initiative to fast-track the establishment of renewable energy (RE) sources in off-grid areas by May to June, 2024.
“We made an innovative structure, so they are doing the line-by-line review of the bidding documents and the terms of reference. Hopefully it becomes approved soon, and we are able to bid it out by end of May or June,” Napocor president and chief executive Fernando Martin Roxas said.
AHP, a first of its kind for missionary areas, will allow the entry of the private sector to put up RE generation plants or facilities to supplement, augment or replace the existing capacities in the operations of Napocor’s Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) diesel power plants.
Roxas said the test case bidding structure involves four clusters—Tawi Tawi, Batanes, Bicol and El Nido in Palawan.
“So, that’s about four out of the 23 clusters ng SPUG power plants. So, if this is successful, we will think about applying it to the rest of other power plants,” Roxas said.
He said the mode of hybridization in the area, whether a combination of solar, wind or other technologies and diesel, depends on the interested bidders.
“We will pay them by energy generated. It’s a 20-year contract. NPC is the off-taker and we will pay for the energy delivered to our switchyard,” Roxas said.
“It is technologically agnostic, as long as it is RE and depends on the area. We will pay them the SAGR [subsidized approved generation rate]. If the SAGR goes up, we will share in the cost but if it goes down, we will not pay them below what they bid…The floor price is what they bid,” he said.