Six firms have presented offers to the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) in its competitive bidding process for the supply of 400 megawatts (MW) of mid-merit capacity. 

In a report by Manila Standard, MERALCO had fixed July 1 as the deadline for submitting interest in the 400 MW 15-year supply, with the pre-bid conference slated for July 11, and the final bid submission deadline scheduled for August 9.

The company has invited bids from power generators to provide 400 MW of mid-merit capacity by August 26, 2025. Mid-merit power plants can adjust their output according to demand fluctuations throughout the day.

Prospective bidders are required to provide full contract capacity for 15 continuous hours from Monday to Saturday, targeting peak periods from 9 AM to 12 noon. Additionally, on Sundays, they must supply the capacity for 10 hours, focusing on peak hours from 2 PM to 12 midnight.

MERALCO vice president and head of utility economics Lawrence Fernandez said that MERALCO’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) had secured a total of 1,220 MW of offered capacity from six interested bidders. 

Currently, the electric distribution utility is holding a competitive selection process (CSP) for 500 MW of mid-merit renewable energy (RE) capacity. Gigasol3, San Roque Hydro Power, and Santa Cruz Solar are among the three companies that attended the pre-bid conference.

Additionally, MERALCO has an ongoing CSP for 600 MW of baseload supply, which is projected to begin meeting the needs of the power distributor for the following year. 

The competitive selection process (CSP) involves a 15-year power supply agreement targeted to start on August 26, 2025. The pre-bid conference is scheduled for July 4, while the bid submission deadline is on August 2, 2024.