Meralco to get over 2GW of power supply after franchise renewal
FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Manila Electric Co. is set to conduct a series of auctions this year to procure more than 2,000 megawatts (MW) of power supply it will need from 2026 to 2046.
According to a company executive, the Department of Energy (DOE) had already approved its 2025 power supply procurement plan.
This came as the power distributor giant secured President Marcos’ backing to extend its franchise until 2053.
READ: Marcos signs law renewing Meralco’s franchise for another 25 years
“So we have an upcoming CSP (competitive selection process) for renewable energy baseload: April 2025 200 MW, and then we also have the 600 MW for CSP scheduled for May 2025,” Meralco senior vice president and head of regulatory management Jose Ronald Valles said in a briefing earlier this week.
Aside from this, the group received an unsolicited proposal for the delivery of 1.4 MW.
Midmerit requirements
A total of 450 MW of midmerit requirements would be pursued by May. The firm will also seek a 900-MW baseload capacity by September.
The midmerit capacities would serve as gap fillers, ready to ramp up supply in case electricity fluctuates throughout the day.
Baseload power plants, meanwhile, deliver a steady supply of electricity.
Meralco is the biggest power distributor in the Philippines, serving more than 8 million customers in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, and select areas in Pampanga, Laguna, Batangas, and Quezon.
On the back of a victorious franchise extension, Meralco also saw stronger financial performance in the first three months of 2025. On Monday, it said its core net income rose by 11 percent to P11.17 billion from P10 billion in the same period last year.
READ: Meralco starts 2025 with strong Q1 profit
Its distribution unit continued to provide the highest contribution at P6.7 billion, while its generation businesses pitched in P3.4 billion in the period.
In a previous statement, its chair Manuel V. Pangilinan said Meralco would deploy more long-term energy infrastructure projects to “improve the delivery of electricity to homes, businesses, and industries that fuel the country’s development.”
