Tesla, Meralco to explore battery storage tie-up

MANILA, Philippines - Officials of US-based automotive and energy storage firm Tesla will arrive in September to explore the possibility of investing in the country’s battery storage space with the country’s largest power distributor, according to a ranking Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) official.

Tesla officials will look at the Philippines for battery storage, Meralco SVP and head of customer retail services and corporate communications Alfredo Panlilio said in an interview last week.

“We just had a first telecon. They’re coming in a month or so. I’m sure we’re going to talk about batteries but what kind of framework, [there’s none yet since]  we just had an initial first call. But they’re interested to come in and explore,” he said.

The Meralco official said there are still no firm talks but both companies are exploring the idea of a partnership.

“It’s still very open, but [we’re] exploring maybe a potential business partnership. I would think its more of storage, batteries. That’s what they’re pushing hard now. They said they’re not a car manufacturer, they’re a battery company,” Panlilio said.

The possible partnership with Tesla will augur well in Meralco’s expansion into electric vehicle (EV) and solar businesses as part of disrupting its traditional power distribution business. 

Panlilio said the company would showcase its EV charging stations within the Meralco compound in Pasig, which was launched two years ago and has yet to make headway pending stronger regulatory policies for massive adoption.

“We’ve been espousing about it, the charging stations. It also depends on government policies, how can we massively have more e-jeepneys. There are still a lot of things to do because it’s not a matter of if it will happen. It will happen,” he said.

“It’s hard for us to drive it alone. But when adoption is there, we should be ready with charging stations. It’s an ecosystem we want to develop,” Panlilio said.

Solar is another option but the Meralco official said talks are still preliminary. “We just agreed they come over and have a visit. We haven’t come up with an agenda. But again, those are options,” he said.

Last year, Meralco chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan acknowledged the dawn of battery storage will disrupt the company’s distribution business, thus the need to eventually enter the battery energy storage space especially when prices of the technology go down.

He highlighted Tesla’s announcement of solar power batteries called the PowerWall, a system that would store solar power, making it more affordable for homeowners and businesses.

This led Meralco to form another power subsidiary, Spectrum, which will be its main vehicle for solar power investments.