The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines is set to implement the public bidding process for ancillary services (AS) as it pushes for new energy sources to achieve energy security.
In a statement, the NGCP said it will start a competitive bidding for the required AS to help meet the objectives of the government and secure the best value for power consumers.
It said the ancillary services are support services needed to maintain power quality, reliability, and security of the grid.
NGCP president and chief executive officer, Anthony Almeda, said the state-owned power grid franchise holder “wants to guarantee the best pricing for AS, especially since this is a pass-on cost to consumers.”
“With an open and public bidding process, we ensure full transparency and comply with internal governance imperative of accountability, which all our stakeholders deserve,” Almeda said.
NGCP, however, said procuring AS on either firm or non-firm basis is not a solution to the recurring brownouts in the country.
Almeda said NGCP has a “supply and not a distribution problem.”
“For the grid to effectively address imbalances between supply and demand, we need to increase the power capacity of the country to meet rising demand as we start to recover and fully reopen the economy,” he added.
The statement said “very little progress” has been made in developing new energy sources as existing power facilities age and outputs decline.
The annual power consumption in the Philippines is expected to grow by 14.09 percent from pre- Covid-19 levels in 2019 to 2021 when economic activity is expected to catch up and normalize.*PNA
