Napocor buying gensets for off-grid communities

MANILA, Philippines - State-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) is acquiring P293 million worth of new generator sets (gensets) with a total capacity of nine megawatts (MW) to improve electricity supply in various off-grid areas.

In a bid bulletin published yesterday, Napocor  said it is soliciting bids from private suppliers for the supply of 15 x 600 kilowatt (kw) modular gensets.

The state-run firm has allocated a budget of P293 million for the auction, which will be taken out from its approved 2015 corporate budget.

A pre-bid conference is set on Sept. 28. Interested bidders have until Oct. 12 to submit their respective proposals.

“All bids must be accompanied by a bid securing declaration or a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in the bidding documents,” Napocor said.

Last month, Napocor acquired P204.9 million worth of new gensets for additional 11.28 MW that will be distributed to 52 Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) plants.

Napocor president Ma. Gladys Cruz-Sta. Rita said earlier another batch of 90 more gensets are under bidding and will benefit another 55 SPUG plants.

Apart from acquiring new gensets, Napocor is also constructing new SPUG plants in Calaguas Island in Camarines Norte and Camandag Island in Western Samar.

In the next five years, Napocor targets to complete 116 MW of additional capacity to meet the continuously growing demand, increase operating hours of existing plants, and ensure sufficient reserve capacity.