Mirant, Napocor, Meralco forge power supply deal

Mirant Philippines Inc. and National Power Corp. (Napocor) have signed an agreement with Lopez-controlled Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to provide at least 15 megawatt (MW) power supply requirement of SunPower Philippines Inc.

Mirant’s 1,200 MW Sual coal-fired power plant in Pangasinan and Napocor will supply 50-50 percent to Meralco. Initially, they will supply 3.7 MW and this is expected to grow to 15 MW over the 15-year contract period. At present, Sual has excess capacity of 50 MW.

Mirant Philippines, the country’s largest private power producer, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based power giant Mirant Corp.

As the largest, cost effective and reliable coal-fired power plant in the nation, the Sual power station started contributing to the Luzon grid last October 1999 through a 1,000 megawatt Energy Conversion Agreement with the Napocor under a 25-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme at a total cost of $1.2 billion. The BOT agreement was signed in 1997.

Sual, one of the most largest and cost-efficient generation plants in the Philippines, consists of two 609-MW coal-fired thermal facility in Pangasinan, North Luzon.

Getting power from Sual, industry sources said would ensure the quality of power that will be supplied to the country’s first solar wafer hub.

SunPower is one of the newest and biggest investments in the Laguna TechnoPark which is located within the Meralco’s franchise area.

"It (SunPower) is an important project and there is a need of a steady supply of power to sustain its operation," the sources said.

Documents also showed that a special task force, composed of the Department of Energy, National Power Corp., Meralco and Mirant Philippines, was formed to see to it that SunPower will get a reliable and steady supply of electricity.

Mirant and Meralco have already submitted an application with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for the approval of their purchased power adjustment (PPA) agreement.

Meralco has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the sale of electricity to SunPower.

SunPower and Meralco have submitted a separate petition to ask for the regulatory body’s issuance of a provisional authority (PA) to implement their MOU.

Laguna is within the franchise area of the Lopez-controlled power utility distribution firm. The 9,337 sq. km. franchise area of Meralco covers 22 cities and 89 municipalities including Metro Manila, the entire provinces of Bulacan, Rizal and Cavite; parts of the provinces of Laguna, Quezon and Batangas; and 17 barangays in Pampanga. Electrification level in the franchise is 97 percent.