DOE seeks suppliers for solar light project

Manila, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking suppliers for almost P125 million worth of solar lighting systems for far-flung areas.

“The DOE is implementing the Household Electrification Program which entails the supply, delivery, installation, testing and commissioning of [solar lighting systems],” the department said in a bid bulletin.

Specifically, the DOE invited bidders that will provide 6,460 units of photovoltaic solar home systems with a capacity of 30-wattpeak (Wp), 151 units of photovoltaic streetlights at 75 Wp and 85 units of photovoltaic solar home systems at 75 Wp.

The winning bidders should also conduct technical trainings for end-users, the DOE said.

Approved budget for the contract is P124.045 million.

“To qualify, bidders must have completed in the Philippines during the last five years a single contract that is similar to the project, the amount of which is 50 percent of the approved budget of the project,” the DOE said.

Interested bidders can buy bid documents for P5,000.

A pre-bid conference is scheduled on July 13 while the bids will be opened on July 31.

Last year, the government was able to electrify 1,125 sitios that benefited 31,000 households nationwide.

The DOE has allotted around P5 billion for rural electrification efforts.

According to data from the DOE, 33 barangays remained un-electrified as of last Dec. 17 in Luzon and 16 in Mindanao.

The DOE is targeting 100 percent barangay electrification and 90 percent household electrification by 2017 in line with the Energy Reform Agenda.

The proponents of the rural electrification include distribution utilities, electric cooperatives, the small power utilities group of the National Power Corp., qualified third parties and other service providers that employ decentralized options such as solar home systems and mini-grid, among others.

Last month, Propmech Corp. and Green Heat Corp., two integrated systems providers specializing in solar panels announced their plan to join the rural electrification for more than four million households that do not have access to electricity.