THE Department of Energy (DOE) will auction off a total of 11,610 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy (RE) capacity across the country in June this year.
Under the second “Green Energy Auction” (GEA-2) program, the proposed capacity installation targets for 2024 is 3,590MW; 3,630MW for 2025; and, 4,390MW for 2026, DOE Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara revealed during the Philippine Electric Power Industry Forum held last March 20.
“Compared to the first auction or GEA-1 last year, we are more aggressive this year and we are looking for RE developers who have ready capacity by next year, to the tune of 3,590 MW, and for 2025 and 2026, we need capacity commitments of 3,630 MW and 4,390 MW, respectively, or a total of 11,610 MW,” said Guevara.
The GEA program intends to provide an additional market for RE through competitive electronic bidding of RE capacities.
The first round of the GEA program was conducted in June last year. It generated almost 2,000MW of capacities that were committed to deliver energy from 2023 to 2025 at a competitive price lower than or equal to the GEA Reserve (GEAR) prices set by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
During the GEA-1, the DOE issued 18 Certificate of Awards of RE capacity, which are committed to go onstream beginning this year.
Guevera said hydro run-of-river will not be included in GEA-2 to make way for ERC’s Feed-In Tariff (FIT) 2 and FIT-3 for hydro run-of-river.
She further said that the proposed installation targets under GEA-2 were determined based on the capacity needed by the grids to ensure sufficient supply; the RE capacity levels to meet the target of 35 percent RE share in the power generation mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040; and the volume of RE Certificates necessary to comply with the mandates under the “Renewable Portfolio Standards.”
After GEA-2, the DOE will conduct GEA-3 in the fourth quarter this year for geothermal and impounding hydro. Guevara said the DOE will develop a specific auction policy and guidelines for GEA-4.
“In preparation for this, we are collaborating with development partners for technical assistance, specifically in developing auction guidelines and policy on settlement and payment through WESM [Wholesale Electricity Spot Market],” added Guevara.
The DOE plans to conduct the GEA annually to encourage more RE investments in the country.