THE third round of the government’s initiative to entice investments in the country’s renewable energy (RE) sector has surpassed targets, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Wednesday, February 12.
The DOE said its third Green Energy Auction (GEA-3) secured a total of 7,500 megawatts (MW) of committed RE installation capacity, exceeding the RE installation target of 4,650 MW.
The GEA is an initiative aimed at facilitating and accelerating investments in RE.
The results of the GEA-3 “mark a significant step towards realizing the energy agenda of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to accelerate the country’s transition to RE and attain energy security and reliability.”
The DOE said a total of 14 projects, with a delivery period from 2025 to 2035, were submitted in the GEA-3.
Broken down, the Energy department said the auction received bids for impounding hydro projects in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao with a total offered capacity of 550 MW against a target of 300 MW.
The GEA-3 also received 2,500 MW of offered capacity for Lot 1 of a Pumped-Storage Hydropower (PSH) in Luzon compared to a target of 2,000 MW.
For Lot 2 of PSH, also in Luzon, the auction garnered a total of 4,200 MW installation capacity offer against a target of 2,000 MW.
The GEA-3 has, likewise, received bids for the PSH project in the Visayas at 250 MW and geothermal projects across the three major island groups with offers amounting to 30.887 MW.
The DOE said the total offer capacity of bids under the GEA-3 “underscores the growing confidence of investors and developers in the Philippine RE sector.”
It said the list of winning bidders will be posted on the DOE website once the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has completed its review of the price offers.
The DOE said certificates of award will be released to the winning bidders upon complete submission of the post-auction documents.
The agency said the GEA-3 forms part of a broader strategy to encourage market-driven investments and efforts to diversify the country’s energy mix to achieve the target of 35% RE share in the power generation mix by 2030. (GMA Integrated News)
