Philippine Electric Cooperatives Secure Long-Term Power Deals with Major Generators

TWENTY-NINE electric cooperatives (ECs) in Luzon and the Visayas signed power supply deals with generators belonging to the Aboitiz Power Corp. (AboitizPower), San Miguel Global Power Holding Corp. (SMGP) and First Gen groups, according to the National Electrification Administration (NEA). In a statement on Thursday, the NEA said the Luzon and Visayas Electric Cooperatives Aggregation (LVECA) obtained 15-year power supply commitments from SMGP units Sual Power, Inc. and Malita Power, Inc.; AboitizPower units Therma Luzon, Inc. and Therma Visayas, Inc; and First Gen unit Energy Development Corp. Also signing a supply agreement with LVECA was Palm Concepcion Power Corp., a unit of A Brown Co., Inc. LVECA is a group of 29 on-grid ECs pooling their baseload power requirements, collectively dealing with power generators in a joint competitive selection process (CSP). Distribution utilities and ECs conduct a CSP to secure a power supply agreement at the lowest cost. The CSP resulted to the signing of power supply agreements (PSAs) for the procurement of a maximum aggregated contract capacity of 445 megawatts (MW) for Luzon and 120.5 MW for the Visayas, with the deal due to come into force next year. LVECA ECs from Luzon serve the provinces of Abra, Aurora, Batangas, Cagayan, Camarines Sur, Laguna, La Union, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Quezon, Quirino, Tarlac, and Zambales. Visayan LVECA ECs operate in Capiz, Cebu, Guimaras, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, and Negros Oriental. “By securing this PSA, we mitigate the risk of service disruptions, giving our ECs a stable foundation to help address operational gaps and illuminate more households,” NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano C. Almeda said. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera