The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has released the preliminary green energy auction reserve (GEAR) price for waste-to-energy technology.
In a notice, the ERC announced that it has initially set the GEAR price for waste-to-energy at P6.4698 per kilowatt hour (kWh).
The ERC has set a public hearing on June 1 to discuss the comments of industry stakeholders on the proposed GEAR price.
“All interested parties are required to submit their comments on or before May 31,” the agency added.
The total auction capacity requirement for biomass waste-to-energy has been set by the ERC at 10 megawatts (MW).
Earlier, the agency released the ceiling rate for the second round of Green Energy Auction Program (GEAP) scheduled next month.
The newly-issued green energy auction (GEA) prices for rooftop solar is P4.7156 per kilowatt hour; P4.2395 per KWh for ground-mounted solar; P4.7565 per kWh for floating solar; P5.9823 per kWh for wind; and P5.1475 per kWh for biomass.
The hydro run-of-river will not be included in GEA2 to make way for ERC’s feed-in-tariff (FIT)-2 and FIT-3 for hydro run-of-river.
Under the terms of reference (TOR) for the second round of the GEA, the total auction capacity requirement for 2024 is targeted at 3,600MW. Of which, 2,400MW is allotted for Luzon auction, 870MW for Visayas, and 330MW for Mindanao.
In terms of technology, ground-mounted solar is capped at 2,025MW; 235MW for rooftop solar; 1,200MW for offshore wind, and 140MW for biomass.
The first round of GEA 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 GEAR prices.
During the GEA1, the DOE issued 18 Certificate of Awards of renewable energy (RE) capacity, which are committed to go onstream beginning this year.
After GEA2, the DOE will conduct GEA3 in the fourth quarter for geothermal and impounding hydro. The DOE will develop a specific auction policy and guidelines for GEA4.
The DOE plans to conduct the GEA annually to encourage more RE investments in the country.