Five companies keen on Meralco power supply needs

THREE companies are looking to vie for Manila Electric Co.’s (Meralco) 400-megawatt (MW) baseload requirement, while two have expressed interest in the 260-MW peak requirement.

Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd. (MPPCL), Limay Power, Inc. (LPI), and First NatGas Power Corp. (FNPC) expressed interest and participated in the pre-bid conference on Monday for Meralco’s 400-MW baseload requirement.

MPPCL and LPI are under San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMGPH), the power arm of listed conglomerate San Miguel Corp. 

FNPC, led by the Lopez Group, operates the 420-MW San Gabriel natural gas-fired power plant in Batangas.

Meanwhile, 1590 Energy Corporation (1590 EC) and San Roque Hydropower, Inc. (SRHI) participated in a separate pre-bid conference for the 260-MW peak requirement.

1590 EC owns and operates the 225-MW diesel power plant in Bauang, La Union. It is owned by Vivant Energy Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of listed Vivant Corp.

SRHI, formerly known as Strategic Power Development Corp., is another subsidiary of SMGPH, serving as the administrator of the 345-MW San Roque hydroelectric power plant through an independent power producer administrator agreement.

The competitive selection process, a government-mandated transparent bidding process, aims to select the least-cost electricity supply.

Under the terms of reference for the interim power supply agreements, bidders must offer a minimum contract capacity of at least 50 MW.

Meralco said that the conduct of bidding for the 260-MW peak requirement and 400-MW baseload requirement are in preparation for the expected increase in demand during the dry months.

The deadlines to submit bids are set for Feb. 26 and 27, respectively.

Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera