By Lenie Lectura- February 28, 2018
THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco)
has signed a power-supply deal involving a total of 150 megawatts (MW) of
wind-power capacity.
The deal, however, has to undergo
competitive selection process (CSP). Meralco must also secure the approval of
the Energy Regulatory Commission.
According to Meralco President Oscar
Reyes, the supply would be “in phases: 80 megawatts and 70 megawatts.”
Reyes confirmed the firm have signed
the agreement “already and will also undergo CSP.”
When sought for further comment,
Meralco Vice President and Head of Utility Economics Lawrence Fernandez said
Island Wind Energy Corp. (Iwec) submitted an offer to Meralco for P3.50 per
kilowatt-hour (kWh).
“The original proponent is [Iwec].
The total capacity is 150 MW, comprised of an initial 80 MW and then 70 MW. The
offer that will be subjected to price challenge is an indicative price of P3.50
per kWh. This would be much lower than the wind FiT [feed-in-tariff] rates of
P8.53 per kWh and P7.40 per kWh,” Fernandez said.
The guaranteed tariff for qualified
wind-power investors is valid for 20 years.
Reyes earlier said Meralco’s
interest in wind energy is brought about by an “attractive price” offered by
the wind-power developers, saying “they are significantly lower than second
round FiT rates.”
He also said last month that Meralco
was looking at investing in two wind farms with a power-generation capacity of
300 MW, involving two 150-MW projects that are under development.
If the wind-energy investment pushes
through, Reyes said it would be housed under subsidiary Meralco PowerGen Corp.
(MGen), the power-generating arm of Meralco. However, Reyes said, “the question
of investment is still to be discussed.” “They are developing and they
are inviting us to provide the PSA [power-supply agreement] of their output
and, at the same time, see if we are interested to invest,” Reyes said.
Meantime, Reyes added, “we are
focusing first on the PSA.”
“We’d like to be an enabler,” he
added. “If they don’t need the investment, we remain open. It’s up to them
whether they [will] welcome [us].”
Meralco has previously entered into
similar PSAs with solar power developers. The deals, however, are pending with
the ERC.
MGen President Rogelio Singson,
meanwhile, had also said that the location of the two wind projects is in the
north while the other close is to the Meralco franchise area.
Aside from wind energy, MGen is also
looking at other cleaner technologies such as pump storage and solar. Singson
said these technologies are being considered amid increases in coal tax and
excise tax.
“When the coal tax kicks in, wind
will be competitive,” Singson said.
For solar, the group is studying
possible investments especially with battery storage, according to Singson. He
added that solar investments are confined to those with off-take agreements
with Meralco.
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