A top official of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said “more than 10” solar-power providers have offered to supply the utility firm’s power requirements.
“More than 10 have approached us with different prices. I think we’re in active discussions with a couple of them,” Meralco President Oscar Reyes said.
According to Reyes, the next round of bid via Competitive Selection Process (CSP) will involve 50 megawatts (MW) to 100 MW of solar-power capacity.
“We are looking at additional solar power being offered to us,” Reyes said, adding that the entire process may take three to six months before a contract is finally awarded.
Meralco recently entered into long-term power supply agreements (PSAs) with three solar-power generators. Two are with Solar Philippines and one with PowerSource First Bulacan Solar Inc. All three PSAs underwent CSP.
Solar Philippines will supply Meralco with 50 MW at a base price of P5.39 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). A separate agreement also states that Solar Philippines will supply Meralco 75 MW to 85 MW for five years and another 85MW from the sixth up to the 20th year for P2.9999/kWh. This rate is significantly lower than the prevailing solar feed-in-tariff rates and a welcome development for consumers.
Another 50 MW will be supplied by PowerSource First Bulacan at P4.69 per kWh.
The PSAs need to be approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission first before these are implemented.
In their PSA applications, Meralco said it foresees high demand “thus there is an urgent need for the final approval of the PSAs considering a significant peaking capacity deficit, as well as possible occurrences of scheduled maintenance shutdowns and forced outage of power plants.”
Based on the utility firm’s distribution development plan for 2015 to 2020, Meralco’s aggregate capacity requirement is forecasted to grow by a compounded average growth rate of 3.7 percent.