‘Meralco CSP attracts more firms’

By Lenie Lectura November 16, 2020
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/11/16/meralco-csp-attracts-more-firms/

More firms have indicated their interest to join the competitive auction for the Manila Electric Co.’s (Meralco) power requirement of 1,800megawatts (MW).

“Additional companies submitted expressions of intent as the deadline approached,” said Meralco utility economics head Lawrence Fernandez.

The deadline for the submission of Expression of Interest was moved to November 13 from November 12 due to inclement weather and its effects brought about by Typhoon Ulysses (international name Vamco).

He did not say the total number of interested firms that have submitted their Expression of Interest last Friday because some of the bidders’ participation fees have yet to be cleared by the banks. Only then, he said, can Meralco declare that the submissions are final.

“We will wait for bank clearance of participation fees of some interested bidders, so we’ll know the final line-up after that. We also need to present first to the TPBAC [Third Party Bids and Awards Committee] before we disclose information,” said Fernandez.

“We are scheduled to present to TPBAC this week the final list of bidders and preparations for the pre-bid conference in December, which will include formally inviting the DOE [Department of Energy] and ERC [Energy Regulatory Commission] to send observers to the pre-bid.”

Last month, TPBAC received Expressions of Interest from several firms with offered capacities totaling 3,600megawatts (MW), utilizing a variety of technologies.

The identities of the 9 interested bidders were not revealed, citing non-disclosure agreements.

“We are not at liberty to disclose the names of companies who expressed interest. There are around nine generating companies,” said Meralco head of Regulatory Affairs Jose Ronald Valles. “It’s a total of 3,600MW. Some submitted 600MW while some submitted a minimum of 150MW.”

Among those that have declared they will join the auction are Atimonan One Energy, Inc. (A1E), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen); San Miguel Corp.’s power unit; AC Energy, the power arm of Ayala Corp.; and Consunji-led Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC); and Aboitiz Power Corp.

The winning bidders will secure a 20-year power supply agreement with Meralco.

A pre-bid conference is scheduled on December 17, with bid submission deadline set on January 25, 2021. The bids will be opened on the same day. Meralco’s preferred price will only be revealed to the bidders during the opening of the bid prices.