By Danessa Rivera (The
Philippine Star) | Updated August 18, 2017 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - Solar
Philippines has challenged the offer of Citicore Power Inc. to supply up to
85-megawatt (MW) of power to Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
Solar Philippines said it was the
lone challenger for the competitive selection process (CSP) to supply 85 MW of
solar power to Meralco.
Meralco has given price challengers
until Aug. 14 to submit their financial proposals with bid security in the form
of an irrevocable letter of credit amounting to P5 million.
Solar Philippines president Leandro
Leviste said they made an offer lower than the P3.50 per kilowatt-hour (kwh)
proposed by Citicore but declined to give details since the process is still
ongoing.
“We have opted to sacrifice our
returns to offer Meralco consumers the same price on 85 MW as we have offered
for 5,000 MW. The exact rate will be made public next week, but what we can
disclose is it should be the lowest true cost of generation in Philippine
history,” he said.
In July, Solar Philippines submitted
to the country’s electric utilities a plan to replace planned coal plants with
5,000 MW of solar-battery farms, at a rate to be disclosed at a later time.
“Previously, we couldn’t fault the
power industry for not believing in solar, because the local market had not yet
demonstrated that solar could be cheaper and more reliable than coal. Now, we
hope this price will signal that solar-battery farms offer the least cost for
the Philippines, such that even fossil fuel companies will convert to solar, to
improve their returns through lower costs,” Leviste said.
Solar Philippines said vertical
integration has enabled it to make solar cost-competitive. It has began
manufacturing solar panels in Sto. Tomas, Batangas earlier this year with an
initial capacity of 800 MW.
Earlier this month, the firm also announced
it would soon begin exporting solar panels, under original equipment
manufacturer contracts with suppliers from China for export to the US and
Europe.
“We are in full support of President
Duterte’s vision of our nation achieving first-world status in the coming
years, and believe lower electricity prices and global leadership in solar and
battery storage will cement the position of the Philippines as Asia’s next
Tiger Economy,” Leviste said.
This is the second competitive
bidding conducted by Meralco for solar supply contracts. Solar Philippines
Tanauan Corp. and PowerSource First Bulacan Solar Inc. have offered 50 MW each
at a price of P5.39 per kwh for 20 years, lower than the latest solar FIT rate
of P8.69 per kwh.
Solar Philippines will supply 25 MW
from its solar farms in Tanauan, Batangas and Naic, Cavite, which are targeted
for completion in February and April 2017, respectively.
No comments:
Post a Comment