Local conglomerates and a Thai-led power firm joined the pre-bid conference for the competitive selection process (CSP) or bidding for 600 megawatts (MW) of baseload supply intended to meet the Manila Electric Company’s (Meralco) requirements starting 2025.
They represent the eight power generating companies which joined Meralco’s pre-bid conference for the power retailer’s supply requirement Wednesday.
The companies are subsidiaries of Lopez-led First Gen Corp., Aboitiz Power Corp., San Miguel Corp. and the Consunji-owned Semirara Mining and Power Corp.
First Gas Power Corp. and First NatGas Power Corp. are units of First Gen, while GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. and Therma Luzon, Inc. are led by AboitizPower.
Meanwhile, Mariveles Power Generation Corp. and Masinloc Power Co. Ltd. are controlled by San Miguel while Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. is one of the power units of SMPC.
Quezon Power (Philippines), Limited Co. is owned by the EGCO Group of Thailand. Of the eight companies, six are coal-fired power plants, while two are natural gas plants.
“As an open and transparent process, the recently concluded pre-bid conference was streamed live and was attended by consumer groups as observers. This CSP for Meralco’s baseload requirement gained the interest of the country’s major energy players, which reflects the private sector continuing efforts to ensure sufficient and cost-competitive supply for consumers. We look forward to the bid submissions of these prospective bidders next month,” Meralco Bids and Awards Committee-Power Supply Agreement chairman Larry Fernandez said.
Fernandez earlier said the eight companies submitted letters of interest with total offered capacity at 1,870 MW vis-a-vis the 600-MW requirement.
Meralco is conducting the CSP following the Department of Energy’s (DOE) issuance of a certificate of conformity to the approved terms of reference (TOR).
The TOR provides that “power suppliers with natural gas fired power plants are highly encouraged to participate in the bidding and prioritize the use of indigenous natural gas.”
The CSP involves a 15-year PSA which is expected to start on Aug. 26, 2025. The bid submission deadline on Aug. 2, 2024.
The conduct of CSP is a part of Meralco’s continuing efforts to ensure the availability of reliable, sufficient, and cost-competitive power for customers.
Meralco also started the bidding for 500 MW of mid-merit renewable energy (RE) capacity and another 400 MW mid-merit capacity.