MANILA, Philippines — Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has secured additional power supply of around 50 megawatts (MW) to cover the expected spike in power demand in its franchise area during the hot season, its top official said.
Meralco president Oscar Reyes said the power distributor has contracted interim power supply agreements (IPSAs) for an additional 50 MW capacity.
He said the IPSAs were contracted with three companies, including Angat Hydropower Corp. and Global Business Power Corp. (GBP).
The IPSAs will cover the summer months until June to provide contingency electricity supply within the Meralco franchise area, Reyes said.
At the start of 2018, weather was cooler so demand has been tame and there is no pressure on the power grid yet.
But in the first quarter, Meralco registered “unusually strong sales” on continued customer growth and warmer temperature during the period, Reyes said.
Sales volume rose nine percent to 10,145 gigawatt-hours (gwh), driven by increased consumption from existing customers and new customers as Meralco’s customer count increased by nearly five percent to 6.4 million accounts.
Of the total, 92 percent comprised of residential customers which included prepaid electricity accounts, while commercial and industrial customers accounted for 7.9 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
Meralco also recorded higher temperature, with an average of 27.1 degrees Celsius during the quarter, 0.5 degrees Celsius higher than last year.
Robust sales drove the power distributor’s core and reported net income higher during the quarter to P4.92 billion and P5.31 billion, respectively.