Meralco told to relax terms for supply deal
Credit to Author: JORDEENE B. LAGARE| Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2019 16:24:07 +0000
THE Department of Energy (DoE) is asking the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to relax the terms for the competitive bidding for 1,200 megawatts (MW) of greenfield supply, its top official said on Monday.
Meralco already submitted to the DoE the revised terms of reference (TOR) for a contract to procure 1,200 MW supply from a greenfield power plant, or a facility yet to be constructed.
Previously, the competitive selection process (CSP) for the greenfield capacity was declared a failure as only one participant joined.
But Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said he relayed to Meralco certain corrections in its amended ToR to encourage more participants and ensure power supply in the Philippines.
Specifically, the DoE chief wants the power distributor not to subject the full capacity of power plants to public bidding and allot a portion of that capacity to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the venue for trading electricity in the country.
“We’re talking of the size of the plant, not to be limiting then I [want] the plant not to be 100 percent contracted because we want to build our electricity market,” Cusi said on the sidelines of the Association of Electricity Supply Industry of East Asia and the Western Pacific CEO Conference in Mactan, Cebu. “Any greenfield plant can opt to contract or sell only, let’s say, up to 50 percent of the [entire] capacity.”
Meralco President and Chief Executive Officer Ray Espinosa said he was hoping they could get the agency’s clearance and commence rebidding.
“We’re hoping we clear this week so we can publish [the revised ToR] this week,” he said.