THE Department of Energy (DOE) has identified 25 Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) across the country that could probably deliver over 808 gigawatts (GW) of additional capacity.
“The 25 individual CREZ across the Philippines have an estimated gross capacity of 152 GW of new wind and solar photovoltaics [PV]. The zones also include an estimated 365 MW of geothermal, 375 MW of biomass, and over 650 GW of hydropower capacity distributed across the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao systems,” stated the Grid Planning and CREZ in the Philippines report released by the DOE on Thursday.
Luzon, in particular, is capable of producing 360 GW of renewable energy (RE). Of which, solar capacity could reach 35 GW; wind, 54 GW; geothermal, 285 megawatts; hydro, 270 GW; and biomass, 210 MW.
The potential RE capacity in Mindanao is expected at 408 GW. Hydro tops is most abundant at 382 GW; wind at 14 GW; solar at 11 GW; biomass at 93 MW; and geothermal at 40 MW.
In the Visayas, the potential RE capacity in identified areas could reach 39 GW. These are 12 GW for solar, 25 GW for wind, 40 MW for geothermal, 2 GW for hydro and 71 MW for biomass.
“I am pleased to present the outcomes of the CREZ process, performed in accordance with DOE Circular 2018-09-27, entitled Establishment and Development of CREZ in the country, issued on September 13, 2018,” said Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi. “This primer serves as a testament to the collective efforts of our partner agencies and stakeholders in improving our national RE landscape.”
A CREZ is a geographic area with high concentrations of cost-effective RE and strong developer interest. While there is no requirement to site new RE projects in a CREZ, access to transmission is an advantage. A CREZ itself does not have specific borders. Instead, it is defined by proximity to transmission.
The capacity in these 25 identified CREZ exceeds the country’s RE road map goal of at least 20 GW of RE on the grid by 2040.
Cusi added that the CREZ process uses the availability of new and upgraded bulk transmission to direct RE development to the most economical project locations. Attracting new projects in these zones will produce more energy per megawatt, given that these zones were selected based on both the quality of available resources and the ease of their development.