DOE closed 755 renewable-energy deals as of end-December last year

By Lenie Lectura – March 21, 2017

from Business Mirror

THE Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded 755 renewable energy (RE) contracts,  with a total potential generating capacity of nearly 17,000 megawatts (MW), as of end-December last year.

Of the total awarded RE projects, 715 MW were for grid-use, while 39 MW were for self-generation. The DOE data was released on its web site on Tuesday.

Hydropower projects make up most of the awarded contracts at 413, followed by solar developments at 150. Meanwhile, the agency awarded 58 wind contracts, 45 biomass, 43 geothermal and seven ocean energy contracts. The same data also stated that there are 322 pending RE applications, with a potential capacity of 3,987.72 MW more.

The bulk of these projects is solar. The DOE has yet to give its green light to 201 solar contract applications, with a potential generating capacity of 2,130.80 MW.

Other pending contracts include hydropower, with 88 applications; wind, with 22 applications; biomass, with 3; and geothermal, with 3 applications.

The pending hydro contracts have a potential capacity of 1,484.02 MW, wind, at 260 MW; geothermal, with 60 MW; and biomass, with 43 MW. The DOE has long been pushing for RE development to diversify the country’s power sources and ensure adequate power supply.

There is also an incentive program provided to RE developers under the feed-in tariff scheme.

The DOE has also cut down the processing of RE projects to 45 days, from 100 days, to fast-track the development of RE projects.