DOE bullish on development of RE

By Lorenz S. Marasigan – January 8, 2021
from Business Mirror

Farmers work at a farm in Pililia, Rizal, with the windmills operated by Alternergy Wind One Corp. at the background. The Philippines’s attempt to further cut carbon emission was bolstered by President Rodrigo Duterte who ordered the Department of Energy to enlarge the share of renewable energy in the country’s power mix.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is bullish on the 3rd Open and Competitive Selection Process (OCSP3), which will further accelerate the development of renewable energy (RE) in the country, after its launch and pre-submission conference yielded interest from 114 participants.

OSCP3 identifies 22 pre-determined areas that cover 5 geothermal and 17 hydropower resources with a total potential capacity of roughly 150 megawatts (MWs).

“We have obtained encouraging results from the series of online stakeholders’ consultation we undertook in July 2020 and that we are very optimistic in this OCSP3,” Energy Assistant Secretary Robert B. Uy said in a statement.

According to indicative timelines released by the department, the deadline for the submission of bid documents is on February 15. The contracts for the financial and technical assistance (FTAA) projects will be awarded on April 19, while the non-FTAAs will be awarded on April 14.

Energy Undersecretary Emmanuel P. Juaneza said the DOE is committed to promote RE resources, noting the recent declaration of a moratorium on endorsements for greenfield coal power projects is a manifestation of the DOE’s vision for energy future.

“Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi himself reiterated the commitment to promote our renewable energy, with the hope that in time, renewables will figure prominently in the country’s energy future,” Juaneza said.

The DOE said many opportunities await the RE investors considering that all policies to support the market for RE are now in place and implemented such as the Renewable Portfolio Standards, Green Energy Option Program, the Enhanced Net Metering and the RE Market establishment.

In 2019, the share of RE in the country’s generation mix stood at 20.8 percent from 23.38 percent in 2018. Coal continues to dominate the mix at 54.6 percent, followed by gas at 21.1 percent and oil at 3.5 percent.