MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) said it has started the bidding process for 600 megawatts (MW) of baseload power supply to meet energy requirements from 2025 onwards.
The company launched the competitive bidding process aimed at securing a 15-year power supply agreement, scheduled to start on Aug. 26, 2025, Meralco said in a statement on Wednesday.
The bid launch follows the Energy department’s issuance of a certificate of conformity to Meralco’s latest Power Supply Procurement Plan for the terms of reference of the bidding process.
Meralco has called on power generation companies to submit their expression of interest to bid for the power supply by June 25.
The company has scheduled a pre-bid conference on July 4, while the deadline to submit bids is set for Aug. 2.
In accordance with the Department of Energy’s (DoE) advisory last year, Meralco said that power suppliers with natural gas-fired power plants “are highly encouraged to participate in the bidding and prioritize the use of indigenous natural gas.”
The government requires distribution utilities to select the cheapest electricity supply through a competitive bid.
“The conduct of CSPs (competitive selection processes) is part of Meralco’s continuing efforts to ensure the availability of reliable, sufficient, and cost-competitive power for customers,” the energy company said.
Last month, Meralco also started seeking bids for 500 MW of renewable energy capacity to comply with the DoE’s policy on renewable energy portfolio standards.
The renewable portfolio standards mandate distribution utilities, generation companies and retail electricity suppliers to get a portion of their energy supply from eligible renewable energy sources.
The deadline to submit bids was set for July 17.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
