Manila Electric Co., the country’s largest power distributor, said Thursday it has secured the best bids for 500 megaWatts of renewable energy supply from three power generation companies through the government-mandated Competitive Selection Process of the distribution utility.
At the bidding on Wednesday, all three interested bidders—San Roque Hydropower Inc., Gigasol3 Inc., and Santa Cruz Solar Energy Inc.—submitted their qualification documents, technical proposal, and bid price.
Meralco, as the power distributor is popularly known, said that the Bids and Awards Committee for Power Supply Agreements announced that SRHI submitted the lowest total headline rate of P7.10 per kilowatt-hour for 340 MW of the total requirement.
Gigasol3 offered P8.1819 per kWh for 139 MW of the requirement, while SCSEI cornered the remaining 21- MW requirement at a rate of P8.1998 per kWh.
All offers received were below the P8.2380 per kWh reserve price set for this CSP, according to the BAC-PSA.
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 and submit its recommendation and report to Meralco’s Board of Directors for approval prior to the issuance of Notices of Award.
The conduct of this CSP is in accordance with the rules set by the Department of Energy, and the Energy Regulatory Commission.
“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 Larry S. Fernandez said.
To further ensure transparency, representatives from the DOE and consumer groups were present during the CSP as observers. The proceedings were also streamed live, and all contracts resulting from this bidding process shall be subjected to regulatory proceedings and evaluation by the ERC.
The 10-year PSA resulting from this CSP will cover Meralco’s 350-MW mid-merit requirement starting February 2025 and will increase by 150-MW beginning February 2026.
As part of its long-term sustainability strategy, Meralco has already contracted 1,880 MW of renewable energy capacity from various suppliers—exceeding its initial target of 1,500 MW. Through its strategic sourcing initiatives, renewable energy is expected to account for 22 percent of Meralco’s supply portfolio by 2030.
