No bid proposals for Meralco load
THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) declared a failed bidding for its 260-megawatt (MW) capacity requirement because there were no bid proposals submitted.
Meralco First Vice President and Regulatory Management Head Atty. Jose Ronald V. Valles said there were originally two interested bidders, but they eventually withdrew their interests.
“I understand that today (February 26) was the date of submission of the bid but the two bidders have withdrawn their expressions of interests and therefore resulted in failed bidding,” Valles said after the company’s presentation of its 2023 financial report last Monday.
The 1590 Energy Corp. (1590 EC) and San Roque Hydropower Inc. were the two firms that submitted expression of interest.
The 1590 EC cited the “excessive and unreasonable bid security required” as its reason for such withdrawal while San Roque informed Meralco that it needed to further evaluate the terms of reference.
However, Meralco’s bids and awards committee (BAC) did not receive any proposals on February 26.
“Considering that no bid proposals, pursuant to Section 10, Article IV of the ERC CSP Guidelines, the bidding is considered to have failed since, during its conduct, “no proposal was received by the BAC on bid submission deadline. Based on foregoing, there was a failure of bidding,” Meralco said in a notice.
Valles said this development will have to be reported to the Department of Energy (DOE): “We will report to the DOE and request second round of bidding.”
At the same time, Valles said there is a scheduled opening of bids on Tuesday, February 27, for 400MW baseload capacity requirement of Meralco.
The Competitive Selection Process (CSPS) for Meralco PSAS (power supply agreements) covering 400 MW of baseload requirement and 260 MW of peaking requirement beginning March 2024 are meant to prepare the distribution utility firm for an expected increase in demand during the dry months. The PSAS arising from the CSPS shall take effect once approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission until February 2025 and July 2024, respectively.
As we approach the dry season, we continue to be proactive in securing sufficient and competitive-priced power through our CSPS, while remaining vigilant on the possible impact of the lingering El Niño phenomenon.
We are working closely with the government and industry partners to push for demand-side management efforts and energy efficient practices that we believe would help in ensuring that there will be stable and reliable supply in the coming months,” Meralco Executive Vice President Ronnie L. Aperocho said.