ERC sets hearing on Bulacan solar link to Meralco’s network


The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has scheduled this September the public hearing on the proposed construction of a dedicated point-to-point facility that will connect the 50-megawatt PowerSource First Bulacan Solar Inc. (PFBS) into the load network of Manila Electric Company.

The regulatory body has issued an order to relevant parties and apprised them that the hearing will be held on September 23 this year at 2:00pm; and this shall be carried out virtually.

The installation of a dedicated point-to-point facility entails that the solar farm will be injecting its capacity exclusively for Meralco’s use in servicing its customers.

In line with the scheduled public hearing, the ERC directed PFBS it must ensure that all the required documents and exhibits have already been submitted to the Commission “at least five (5) calendar days before the date of the scheduled initial virtual hearing and pre-trial conference” as slated on September 23.

The regulatory body emphasized that the failure of PFBS to comply within the prescribed period “shall be a ground for cancellation of the scheduled hearing and the resetting of which shall be six months from the said date of cancellation.”

The ERC further decreed that PFBS “must also be prepared to make an expository presentation” on its application; and such must convey the benefits that the project would be able to extend to the consumers.

The Bulacan solar power project is partly owned by MGEN Renewable Energy (MGreen), which is the subsidiary of Meralco PowerGen Corporation, the power generation investment arm of the utility firm.

MGreen has 40% shareholdings in the project’s corporate vehicle PSBF; 36% is still held by PowerSource Global Holdings Corporation of businessman Aloysius B. Colayco; while the remaining 24% was cornered by Singaporean firm Sunseap International Pte. Ltd.

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the P4.25 billion solar facility was awarded in October last year; and that construction is still advancing amid some limitations posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

At its completion, the facility will be supplying its generated electricity to Meralco – as underpinned by a 20-year power supply agreement (PSA) inked by the parties. The PSA was approved by the ERC last year and it was allowed to pass on an applicable rate of P4.29 per kilowatt hour (kWh) and that comes with a provision for 2.0-percent escalation on a yearly basis.

As indicated by Meralco PowerGen, the Bulacan solar plant is a jump-off investment foray for the larger 1,000MW plinth of renewable installations that the company is targeting in the next five years.

Aside from solar, the company also casts wind, biomass, floating solar and prospective hydropower installations on its future investment plans.