FINALLY, after all these years, the bidding for Bohol’s independent power source was accomplished on February 12, 2021 with 6 bidders meeting the price cap!
This is good news for my home province, which for the longest time always suffers from debilitating power loss whenever the bulk of the province’s power supply carried by the Leyte-Bohol submarine cable is cut off due to occurring natural calamities or force majeure in Leyte. This has beset Bohol several times in the recent past.
Although belated this is still good news! I have written about this in my column (in another newspaper and this paper) on several occasions since Bohol suffered the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in October 2013.
Of course, it is imperative that this forthcoming power supply is affordable to my fellow Boholanos.
To One Bohol Power Distribution Utilities’ (1BP) credit, a Competitive Selection Process (CSP) was observed. And may I add, rightly so.
The commercial operation date of the completed power plant is targeted on December 26, 2023. This is based on forecast by 1BP.
1BP is composed of Bohol Light Company Inc., Bohol I Electric Cooperative, Inc., and Bohol II Electric Cooperative, Inc. 1BP is committed to purchase 83 megawatts of power from the winning bidder for ten years.
According to industry sources, 20 bidders submitted Letters of Intent to participate in the CSP. However, only 19 bought the bid documents. Out of the 19 bidders, only six submitted their respective proposals.
The six bidders with their bid prices and proposed plant types are 1) Therma Visayas, Inc. at P3.0405/kWh (Coal + Solar); 2) Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings, Inc. at P3.9297/kWh (Diesel + Solar); 3) Global Business Power Corporation at P4.5302/kWh (Diesel + Solar); 4) SMC Global Power Holdings Corporation at P4.5596/kWh (Natural Gas + Battery); 5) Bohol Hybrid Energy Corporation at P5.1897/kWh (Diesel + Solar); and 6) Energy Development Corporation at P5.2168/kWh (Diesel + Geothermal).
For bidders 1, 2, and 6, their offers include an outside Bohol baseload plant plus an in-island (constructed in the province) plant, able to supply the baseload power requirement, in the event of island-mode operation. In layman’s language, when Bohol is cut off from the Visayas power grid and must operate its own power supply independently, which is basically the intention of this power reliability project.
Meanwhile, for bidders 3, 4, and 5, their offers include an in-island (constructed in the province) baseload plant.
The Third-Party Bids and Awards Committee (TPBAC) will evaluate the offers if they are compliant with the technical requirements of the project. The Notice of Award is expected to be issued on March 8, 2021.
It will be recalled that the provincial government of Bohol stands by the Boholanos’ call for “No to Coal”, hence, the bidders are reminded to strictly observe environmental laws. Moreover, the bidders are mindful of submitting affordable and competitive rates and equally important, power supply availability and reliability in case of island-mode operation.
I am watching this development with keen interest. We will see who will be awarded the project after thorough technical evaluation by TPBAC.
It’s about time!
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We’re on the eleventh month of managing COVID-19 in our beloved Philippines. My question: Where are we now? More questions: How’s our safety and health protocols doing so far? How are people responding? Are we revisiting our complicated and diverse travel requirements?
Yes, you get me right! Diverse since every local government unit (LGU) has its own set of travel requirements making it scary (read: stressful) to travel to other destinations! Duh, tell me about it!
Of course, the justification is to make us shun traveling. And because we do, money is not circulating. But that’s another story.
Let’s focus on the questions first. Where are we now? Well, the President said our “economy is in bad shape, sinking deeper and deeper”. And that’s an ugly truth but a real one. We would rather have the ugly truth to prepare us rather than a sugar-coated one, don’t we?
On our health and safety protocols. Are our citizens embracing this as a habit now? Or have they become complacent?
Whatever it is, we call on the Bohol LGU and other LGUs to revisit their COVID-19 policies to suit the present realities.
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Writer can be reached at belindabelsales@gmail.com. Twitter @ShilohRuthie./PN
