DOE prequalifies 8 bidders in off-grid electrification tendering

The Department of Energy (DOE) has prequalified at least eight (8) bidders in the scheduled competitive selection process (CSP) or tendering for the electrification of at least 98 off-grid sites covering 15,645 households.

These firms which will be joining the Microgrid Service Provider (MGSP) auction process are: DMCI Power Corporation, Smart Power Solutions Corporation, Alternative Power Resource Holdings Inc., MSpectrum Inc., Maharlika Clean Power Holdings Corp., Powersource OEG Services Inc., One Renewable Energy Enterprise Inc., FP Island Energy Corporation and Vivant Energy Corporation.

The pre-bid conference, which will serve as a venue for the interested parties to raise their respective questions and concerns, shall be on November 29; while the submission and opening of bids will be on December 27 this year.

Following a post-qualification process, the names of the winning bidders will be endorsed for final approval by the Energy Secretary by February 24 next year; while the issuance of ‘notice of award’ will be on March 12.

“The bidder shall include full details of the technical capacities and experiences of the personnel to execute design and engineering, construction works and set up appropriate operations and management systems. These details should include relevant technical and business management qualifications as well as full descriptions of experience relevant to the technical and commercial operation of electric power generation and supply systems,” the terms of reference (TOR) issued by the CSP special bids and awards committee, had stated.

For the equipment to be used in the electrification projects, it was prescribed that these shall be “brand new with a manufacturing date no later than the 2023 model,” while suppliers are also required “to submit a quotation from their selected manufacturer detailing the equipment’s model, ratings/size, manufacturing date and place of origin.”

The energization of the off-grid areas, which had been a lofty ambition across various government administrations, would want to be concretized by the current Marcos leadership – not just at the level of the barangays but down to household connections.

For the winning parties in the auction, the bidding terms stipulated that “the cooperation period for the supply and delivery of electricity services to the identified unserved areas shall be 20 years from the date of its commercial operations.”

It was further mandated that “the delivery period and/or start of commercial operations shall not be later than 18 months from the execution of the Micro Grid Service Contract (MGSC)” with state-run National Power Corporation.

Overseeing the electrification and all-inclusive energy access of the off-grid domains had been a major residual function vested upon NPC when its big-ticket power assets had already been privatized as decreed under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.