SPPC submits best offer for Meralco supply requirements

MANILA, Philippines — The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has secured the best bid from San Miguel’s South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC) for its 1,200-megawatt (MW) supply requirement.

Meralco said all three bidders that earlier expressed interest to participate in the competitive selection process (CSP) submitted their qualification documents, technical proposal, and bid price on Jan. 23.

Meralco’s bids and awards committee for power supply agreements named SPPC on the same day as the best bidder after submitting the lowest offer for the power distributor’s baseload requirement.

According to Meralco, SPPC offered a total levelized cost of electricity rate at P7.0718 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for the entire 1,200-MW requirement.

The unincorporated joint venture of Limay Power Inc. and San Roque Hydropower Inc., on the other hand, submitted the next best bid after it offered a rate of P7.1006 per kWh for 150-MW capacity.

First Natgas Power. Corp. (FNPC), meanwhile, offered a rate of P8.4489 per kWh for a capacity of 210 MW.

Meralco said that except for the offer of FNPC, all other offers received were below the P7.1538 per kWh reserve price set for this CSP, according to the BAC-PSA.

The company said that all submissions have passed the criteria contained in bidding documents and pre-qualification evaluation.

The committee for supply agreements will conduct a post-qualification evaluation and submit its recommendation and report to Meralco’s board of directors for approval of the best bid as the winning power supplier prior to the issuance of a notice of award.

The resulting 15-year power supply agreement (PSA) from the CSP will cover Meralco’s future capacity requirements, including the 1,000-MW supply that was covered by its PSAs with change in circumstance cases that are pending resolution.

Meralco BAC-PSA chairman Lawrence Fernandez said the distribution utility has complied with the government’s requirement that the bid be conducted in an open and transparent manner.

To further ensure transparency and fairness, Fernandez said CSP observers witnessed the submission and opening of bids and the proceedings were streamed live.

“Meralco, as a highly-regulated entity, has conducted its business in full compliance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and Department of Energy.  All contracts resulting from this CSP will be subject to the regulatory proceedings of the ERC,” Fernandez said.