Meralco seeks bids for power supply
Credit to Author: JORDEENE B. LAGARE| Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2019 16:11:47 +0000
FOR the second time in days, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is soliciting bids for the supply of a combined 1,700 megawatts (MW), in accordance with a recent Supreme Court decision mandating companies to subject power-supply agreements (PSA) to public bidding.
In its invitation to bid on Monday, Meralco, through its Third-Party Bids and Awards Committee (TPBAC), is seeking parties to bid on supplying 1,200MW from a baseload power plant – or a facility capable of supplying electricity nonstop — for 20 years starting September 2024.
The plant may have a maximum of four units; the first of these must begin commercial operations by March 2024. It should also have a maximum of two plant sites with one delivery point — for purposes of settlement and transfer of risk and loss — within the Luzon grid and nearest to Meralco’s load center.
Scheduled outage allowance should not exceed 30 days. Major maintenance scheduled outage should not exceed 20 days and should not occur more than four times during the required contract period. Forced outages should not be longer than 15 days.
If the power plant fails to meet the scheduled commercial operation date, the power supplier must procure replacement power up to the capacity of the relevant unit(s), to be paid for by Meralco at the lower rate, between the contract price and the spot market price.
In case of a delay in commercial operations, the PSA between Meralco and the winning bidder may be terminated if the accord is not reached within 60 days of the delay limit date.
Interested parties should submit an expression of interest and confidentiality undertaking, and obtain bidding documents from the TPBAC not later than 4 p.m. of July 29. They should also pay a non-refundable fee of P6 million.
A pre-bid conference is scheduled on August 9. To qualify, bidders should submit qualification documents, technical proposal and bid security worth P3.65 million not later than September 10.
In a text message to The Manila Times, Meralco Vice President and Head of Utility Economics Lawrence Fernandez said the listed power distributor was set to post on Tuesday another invitation to bid, this time for a 500-MW mid-merit power plant with a five-year contract starting December 26.
These new invitations come after the one Meralco posted last Friday for the supply of 1,200MW, also from a baseload power plant from Dec. 26, 2019 to Dec. 25, 2029.
Meralco is issuing these invitations after the high court ruled in early May that all PSA applications submitted to the Energy Regulatory Commission on or after June 30, 2015 must undergo competitive bidding.
The decision affected more than 90 PSAs, including Meralco’s seven deals with its affiliates covering more than 3,500 MW of capacity.
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