Power retailer Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) declared as “best bids” the offers of the subsidiaries of San Miguel Corp. and ACEN Corp. for 500 megawatts of renewable energy supply.
Meralco said in a statement three generation firms—SMC’s hydro arm San Roque Hydropower Inc. (SRHI) and ACEN units Gigasol3 Inc. and Santa Cruz Solar Energy Inc. (SCSEI) submitted their qualification documents, technical proposal and bid price on July 17.
The power retailer said that during the bid opening on the same day, its bids and awards committee for power supply agreements (BAC-PSA) announced that SRHI submitted the lowest total headline rate of P7.10 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for 340 MW of the total RE requirement.
Gigasol3 offered P8.1819 per kWh for 139 MW of the requirement, while SCSEI cornered the remaining 21 MW at a rate of P8.1998 per kWh.
“As a highly regulated entity, Meralco has conducted its business in full compliance with the rules and regulations issued by the ERC and DOE,” Meralco BAC-PSA chairman Lawrence Fernandez said.
The BAC-PSA said all offers received were below the P8.2380 per kWh reserve price set for the competitive selection process.
Meralco said the submissions underwent a very stringent pass/fail completeness assessment and pre-qualification evaluation.
The BAC-PSA is also set to conduct a post-qualification evaluation, submit its recommendation and report to Meralco’s board for approval prior to the issuance of notices of award.
The 10-year PSA resulting from the CSP will cover Meralco’s 350-MW mid-merit requirement starting February 2025 which will increase by 150 MW beginning February 2026.
The CSP is in accordance with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Department Circular No. DC2023- 06-0021 and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Resolution No. 16, Series of 2023.
Representatives from the DOE and consumer groups attended the CSP as observers. The proceedings were also streamed live, and all contracts resulting from the bidding would be subjected to regulatory proceedings and evaluation by the ERC.
Meralco already contracted 1,880 MW of renewable energy capacity from various suppliers—exceeding its initial target of 1,500 MW as part of its long-term sustainability strategy.
Renewable energy is expected to account for 22 percent of Meralco’s supply portfolio by 2030 through its strategic sourcing initiatives.
