Meralco calls for more supply as warm months near

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has started to actively seek suppliers for a total of 660 megawatts (MW) of power generation capacity needed to meet the seasonally high demand during the country’s upcoming warm, dry season.

The power distribution giant brought its competitive selection process for additional capacity under way after the Department of Energy gave the green light for two separate interim power supply agreements (IPSAs) that cover Meralco’s peaking and baseload requirements.

Jose Ronald Valles, Meralco first vice president and head of regulatory management, first announced the company’s plans to procure additional supply in late December, in anticipation of the strengthening of the El Niño climate phenomenon.

In industry parlance, baseload refers to capacity and supply that is deployed throughout the business day. Meanwhile, peaking capacity and supply is called upon to augment baseload resources, particularly when demand is at its highest.

An IPSA for 260 MW of Meralco’s peaking capacity needs is effective until July this year while an IPSA for 400 MW of baseload capacity must be available until February next year.

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Electricity distributors typically engage in IPSAs to add to supply during peak seasons and ensure that there would be no interruptions within their service areas.

On Thursday, Meralco asked interested generation companies to submit expressions of interest for the two contracts by Jan. 15. Respective prebid conferences for both deals are scheduled on Jan. 22. INQ