By Myrna M. Velasco Vivant Integrated Diesel Corporation (VIDC), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Garcia-led Vivant Energy Corporation in a joint venture with Gigawatt Power, Inc., has cornered the power supply agreement (PSA) to service the electricity requirements of Bantayan island, a thriving tourist destination in Cebu. The company said it won the supply contract via a competitive selection process (CSP) that the Bantayan Island Electric Cooperative (BANELCO) had concluded last month. Following a ruling of the Supreme Court, the country’s power distribution utilities can now only procure their present and future power supply requirements through CSP or competitive auction. In the supply pact cornered by VIDC, it was stipulated that such had been the outcome of CSP in which BANELCO set 15-megawatt (MW) of its supply needs on tender. The bid process started in July and had been completed last month. “The VIDC was given the notice of award, which formalized its selection as BANELCO’s new power provider,” a company statement has noted. VIDC further indicated that “the project will add to the capacity of Vivant Energy as it continues to focus its growth in the off-grid small power utilities group (SPUG) sector.” Relevant parties BANELCO and VIDC will formally sign the PSA before the end of this year and will have a joint filing of the contract with the Energy Regulatory Commission. Bantayan island’s demand growth is seen continuously ramping up, in fact seen at the scale of a significant 10-percent this year from peak demand of 6MW power in 2018. And by 2027, BANELCO forecasts that its requirements will climb to as high as 13MW, more than the capacity under its prevailing supply contract. The company said its current PSA with Bantayan Island Power Corporation (BIPCOR) for an off-take of 4.892MW is set to expire in 2021, hence, it needed to prepare for that as well as on its increasing demand.