MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) is set to evaluate the three lowest bids for its 600-megawatt (MW) baseload supply requirement, with offers from generators under San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMGP) and Aboitiz Power Corp. (AboitizPower) starting at P5.3573 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
In a statement on Tuesday, Meralco said six of the nine bidders that expressed interest in its competitive selection process (CSP) submitted qualification documents, technical proposals, and bid prices.
Mariveles Power Gen Corp. (MPGC), Sual Power, Inc. (SPI), and GNPower Mariveles Energy Center (GMEC) submitted the three lowest bid prices for Meralco’s supply requirement, the company said.
MPGC offered a total levelized cost of electricity of P5.3573 per kWh for 200 MW, while SPI submitted P5.4357 per kWh for another 200 MW.
GMEC initially offered P5.5789 per kWh for 600 MW but later reduced its offered capacity to 200 MW, completing the 600-MW requirement.
MPGC operates a 600-MW coal-fired power plant in Mariveles, Bataan, while SPI operates a 1,200-MW coal-fired power plant in Sual, Pangasinan. Both companies are subsidiaries of SMGP, the power generation arm of San Miguel Corp.
GMEC is a subsidiary of AboitizPower through Therma Power, Inc. and operates a 690-MW coal-fired facility in Mariveles, Bataan.
The other bidders were Masinloc Power Co. Ltd., which offered P5.6290 per kWh for 200 MW, and Therma Luzon, Inc., which offered P5.6988 per kWh for 194 MW. All offers were inclusive of value-added tax and a capped line rental charge, Meralco said.
Except for Energy Development Corp., all other offers received were below the reserve prices set for the CSP, according to the Meralco Bids and Awards Committee for Power Supply Agreements (BAC-PSA).
“The Meralco BAC-PSA has fully complied with its mandate to conduct the bid in an open and transparent manner to achieve the least cost of electricity in accordance with rules and regulations set by the Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC),” Meralco BAC-PSA Chairman Lawrence S. Fernandez said.
He said the BAC-PSA will conduct a post-qualification evaluation and submit its recommendation and report to Meralco’s board of directors for approval of the best bids as the winning power suppliers before notices of award are issued.
The resulting 15-year power supply agreements will also be submitted to the ERC for review and approval before implementation.
The initial 300 MW of baseload supply is targeted for delivery by Feb. 26, 2028, while the remaining 300 MW is due to be supplied beginning Feb. 26, 2029.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
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