Court clears Meralco’s power supply auctions

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is forging ahead with its quest for cost-effective power supply following the lifting of a block on its 1,000-megawatt (MW) bidding process.

The Taguig Regional Trial Court junked the petition for injunction against Meralco’s competitive selection process (CSP) for 600-MW baseload and 400-MW mid-merit supply contracts.

“The court finds merit in the urgent motion to dismiss the complaint for injunction of plaintiffs. Relative thereto, the temporary restraining order the court issued on (Aug. 2) is hereby rendered without force and effect,” the order dated Aug. 17 stated.

This stemmed from the petition filed by Prime Energy Resources Development, UC38 LLC, Prime Oil and Gas Inc. and PNOC Exploration Corp. that stalled the conduct of the CSPs.

Meralco said that the latest order would enable the firm to continue efforts to “secure our power supply requirements in the least cost manner, consistent with our mandate.”

“We will now resume the bidding procedures for both the 600-MW and 400-MW CSPs, for which new bid bulletins will be issued, particularly with respect to the timelines,” it said.

The procurement of a new power supply is deemed essential to meet Meralco’s power requirements starting next year amid growing energy demand within its franchise coverage, which includes Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

With the roadblock now cleared, Meralco has revised the bidding timeline for the CSPs.

For the 600-MW auction, the bid submission deadline and the opening of pre-qualification documents have been moved to Aug. 27 from the original schedule of Aug. 2.

The winning bidders will be notified on the same day or the next, depending on the duration of the pre-qualification evaluation.

In a pre-bid conference last month, Meralco named the eight interested bidders for the CSP, which covers a 15-year power supply agreement (PSA) that is targeted to start on Aug. 26, 2025.

The interested parties include Aboitiz-led GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. and Therma Luzon Inc.; San Miguel’s Mariveles Power Generation Corp. and Masinloc Power Co. Ltd.; Lopez-led First Gas Power Corp. and First NatGas Power Corp.; Quezon Power (Philippines) Ltd. Co.; and the Consunji Group’s Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp.

Meralco, meanwhile, has yet to provide the updated bidding schedule for 400 MW of mid-merit PSA for 15 years.