DOE issues TOR for green energy auction

BY LENIE LECTURA – APRIL 19, 2023
from Business Mirror

The Department of Energy (DOE) released on Tuesday the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the second round of the Green Energy Auction Program (GEA2), paving the way for the auction to push through in June.

The GEAP was designed to continuously trigger the increase in the country’s renewable energy (RE) capacity, which will help realize the government’s target of 35 percent RE in the energy mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.

The TOR supplements the provisions of the GEA2 guidelines and will govern the rules and procedures of the auction process. Under the TOR, the total auction capacity requirement for 2024 is targeted at 3,600 megawatts (MW). 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 installation target for the following year is also 3,600MW broken down as follows: 2,325MW for Luzon, 910MW for Visayas, and 365MW for Mindanao. The allotted capacity for ground-mounted solar is 2,140MW; 260MW for roof-mounted solar; 1,170MW for onshore wind; and 30MW for biomass.

The 2026 installation target, meanwhile, is set at 4,400MW. Of which, Luzon’s share is at 2,990MW, 915MW for Visayas, and 495MW for Mindanao. Of the total capacity target, 2,550MW is ground-mounted solar, 300MW for floating solar, 110MW for roof-mounted solar, 1350MW for onshore wind, 10MW for biomass, and 30MW for waste-to-energy.

In all, the DOE will auction off a total of 11,610MW of RE capacity across the country. The supply contract will be for 20 years beginning from the date of the commercial operation of the RE project.

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.

Meanwhile, the DOE issued Advisory No. GEA2-1 specifying the activities of GEA2 and their actual delivery dates, including the release of the TOR. Subsequently, Advisory No. GEA2-2 was issued last  April 14  to “encourage wider participation and foster greater competition in the GEA2.”