The Department of Energy (DOE) has cleared the Manila Electric Co.’s (Meralco)competitive selection process (CSP) for a 200-megawatt (MW) baseload power supply from renewable energy (RE) facilities.
According to DOE Undersecretary Mario Marasigan, the agency has processed a certificate of conformity (CoC) for the conduct of Meralco’s competitive auction. ‘We issued it. I cannot remember the exact date, but I think the papers came through last week or the other week.’
Meralco, for its part, said over the weekend that it has yet to receive the CoC from the DOE.
A CoC should be issued by the DOE prior to the conduct of CSP. Meralco awaits the issuance of two more CoCs for the 450-MW mid-merit and 600-MW baseload requirements.
‘We have cleared the 200 megawatts. We received the comments of the PCC [Philippine Competition Commission] and the ERC [Energy Regulatory Commission]. In that sense, we deemed it ok to release the certificate of conformity for the 200 megawatts only,’ said Marasigan.
It can be recalled that Meralco has voluntary offered for review to the PCC the 200-MW baseload, 450-MW mid-merit, and 600-MW baseload, with deliveries scheduled to commence in the next five years.
The PCC and ERC will then submit their comments to the DOE which, in turn, will be referred to Meralco for appropriate comments and reply. Meralco’s reply to the comments of PCC and ERC will then have to be evaluated by the DOE.
‘If Meralco feels that they have already complied with the comments of the PCC and ERC, then they can proceed. So, what we certified in our COC was actually the conformity of the 200-megawatt baseload requirement RE,’ added Marasigan.
The 200-MW baseload supply of RE is necessary to comply with Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) policy, which requires power distributors like Meralco to source an increasing percentage of their electricity from RE sources to meet national RE targets.
Aside from the three CSPs, Meralco also plans to conduct another competitive bidding for 900-MW of baseload requirement, the last on its CSP list for the year.
‘There is another one coming in, a 900-MW baseload CSP. We are supposed to do that latter part of this year,’ said Meralco Senior Vice President and Regulatory Affairs head Jose Ronald Valles.
Meralco utility economics head Lawrence Fernandez said the 900-MW capacity is targeted for February 5, 2030, with a contract term of 15 years.