Aboitiz shortlists two groups for power supply needs of VECO

Two power generation groups have been shortlisted to supply the 200-megawatt (MW), five-year power requirement of Visayan Electric Co. (VECO), a power distribution unit of Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV).

AEV chief operating officer Erramon Aboitiz said they will choose between Mirant Global Corp., a joint venture of Mirant Corp. and Global Business Holdings of the Metrobank Group, and the group of Korean Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) and Salcon Power Corp.

Aboitiz said VECO received at least five offers but decided to consider only two proposals.

"At the beginning there were five companies that expressed interest but in the final investors’ conference last May 10, there were only two, Mirant Global and Kepco-Salcon," he said.

Aboitiz said of the 200 MW power demand, VECO will need 50 MW by January 2010, 50 MW by July 2010, 50 MW by January 2011 and the remaining 50 MW by July 2011.

The AEV official said they plan to hold the bidding next month and announce the winner shortly after.

"Assuming there will be no extensions, we plan to proceed with the bidding on June 14, and about two weeks to analyze the results," he said.

VECO is owned and managed by the Aboitiz and Garcia families of Cebu. It is the second largest private electric utility in the Philippines serving more than 275,000 customers in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Talisay and five municipalities on the greater part of Metro Cebu.

VECO’s franchise service covers an area of about 672 square kilometers with an estimated population of 1.34 million as of 2004. 

At present, VECO’s total demand has reached 290 MW and with annual energy sales of 1,683 gigawatthours (gwh). In 2005, Republic Act 9339 was signed, extending the term of VECO’s franchise for another 25 years.

VECO currently uses various state-of-the-art technologies in its operations to improve efficiency and service. It uses a SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system to monitor and control its electric distribution assets via remote control. It also has a GIS (geographic information system) to map and manage its facilities.

Last year, the power distribution utility opened a full service center at SM City Cebu with a call center equipped with voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone system integrated with a customer relation management system (CRMS).