Manila Bulletin
By MYRNA M. VELASCO
March 2, 2012, 3:02am
MANILA, Philippines — At least 350 megawatts of the capacity of the Pagbilao coal-fired power facility had already been committed to fill in the gap on the supply needs of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) for the next seven years.
The power supply agreement (PSA) between Meralco and Aboitiz subsidiary Therma Luzon Inc. (TLI) was signed last February 29, following an earlier announcement of the off-taker utility firm on the approval of its board on the supply pact. TLI is the independent power producer administrator of the 735-megawatt Pagbilao power facility.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Aboitiz Power confirmed that the supply agreement was signed last February 29 and will be implemented upon the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission.
The supply arrangement between Meralco and TLI at present is still bound by the transition supply contract (TSC) which was assigned to the IPPA by asset-seller firm Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation.
The extended TSC will lapse December this year; and the supply volumes to be dislodged from that contractual arrangement is being replaced by Meralco with bilateral contracts directly negotiated with the power producers and IPP administrators.
Meralco’s longer term supply contracting prospects will target facilities which will be bringing in new capacities to the Luzon grid.
Meralco senior executive vice president Oscar S. Reyes noted that aside from the demand of their growing customer base, they are also re-positioning the company to become a retail electricity supplier (RES) under the open access regime.
As a distribution utility, Meralco can be automatically considered as local RES which shall serve the requirements of its franchise area, even in cases where the need for supplier of last resort (SOLR) will arise.
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