Manila Electric Co. (MERALCO) has acquired another emergency power supply agreement (EPSA) for one year with Aboitiz Power Corporation.
In a report by Business World, MERALCO first vice president and head of regulatory management Jose Ronald Valles said that this EPSA is intended to reduce Meralco’s exposure to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
Valles said that MERALCO signed a deal with Therma Luzon, Inc., a unit of Aboitiz Power, for a capacity of 370 megawatts (MW) at P8.14 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
The Department of Energy (DOE) earlier approved the exception from the competitive selection process procedure, covering a capacity of 670 MW from March 26, 2023 until March 25, 2024. The capacity includes an EPSA with a capacity of 300 MW from South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC) and 370 MW from Therma Luzon.
The new EPSA partially covers the 670-MW capacity lost from its previous agreement with San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp.’s SPPC – which was subject to a writ of preliminary injunction by the Court of Appeals, indefinitely suspending the agreement.
Meralco previously signed an EPSA with AboitizPower, under GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. on Dec. 15, 2022, until Jan. 25, 2023, with a rate of P.5.96 per kWh. They secured another EPSA again on Feb.3 to Feb.25 with a rate of P8.53 kWh.