The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has renewed its emergency power supply agreement (EPSA) with Aboitiz Power’s GNPower Dinginin Ltd. for the supply of 300 megawatts (MW) baseload capacity effective from February 3 to February 25 this year.
GNPower Dinginin operates a 1,336 MW coal-fired power plant in Mariveles, Bataan.
Meralco said this reduces its exposure to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market and in turn, shields customers from volatile and potentially higher generation costs.
The parties first signed an EPSA for 300 MW last December 15, 2022 that terminated on January 25 this year, at a rate of P5.96 per kilowatt hour.
The parties also did not say whether the new contract carried a similar rate.
“The contract forms part of Meralco’s efforts to ensure sufficient supply and manage its rates as a result of the cessation of 670 MW supply covered by its power supply agreement (PSA) with South Premiere Power Corp., which was subjected to a writ of preliminary injunction (WPI) issued by the Court of Appeals (CA),” the company said in a statement.
The CA 13th division’s injunction has temporarily stopped the continued implementation of the PSA between Meralco and SPPC but does not terminate it entirely.
The order also allows the parties to negotiate the terms of the PSA, enjoining them to “enter into good faith negotiations.”
