The Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) has declared a failed bidding for 850 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy mid-merit supply due to the lack of competing bids.
MERALCO’s Third-Party Bids and Awards Committee (TPBAC) said it did not receive any bids to challenge the unsolicited proposal of Terra Solar Philippines Inc.,’s Php6.08 per kilowatt-hour headline rate and levelized cost of electricity.
Terra Solar is a joint venture between Leandro Leviste’s Solar Philippines and Enrique Razon’s Prime Infrastructure Capital, Inc. It proposed to supply MERALCO with 600MW by February 26, 2026 while the remaining 250MW will be delivered in 2027.
Initially, San Miguel Corporation’s SMC Global Light and Power Corporation and SunAsia Energy both said that they would be participating in the bidding. Both firms, however, eventually backed out.
SunAsia President Theresa Capellan, in a report by The Philippine Star, had described the bidding as “a very intimidating bid process” since it the region’s biggest deal.
Under the terms, bidders should be able to provide 100% readily available capacity for 6 to 13 hours a day, which would cover the utility’s peak hours for at least 84 hours a week.
The original deadline was set for March 7, but MERALCO extended it to Tuesday to give more time to prospective bidders.
MERALCO is looking to shift its energy mix in the medium term by bidding out 1,000 to 1,500MW in RE capacity within the next five years. Currently, the power giant sources 94% of the electricity it distributes from fossil fuels.
With this plan, the company plans to shift to RE all its mid-merit capacity, which accounts for 29% of its total supply.
MERALCO sources most of its mid-merit capacity from gas-fired power plants. Mid-merit plants are those that can quickly ramp up capacity, filling the gap between baseload and peaking plants that run during peak hours.