Authorities units public sale for energy capability from renewables

The third spherical of the Inexperienced Power Public sale (GEA) is scheduled in November this yr whereas the unsubscribed capacities from the second spherical of GEA will probably be auctioned off subsequent yr, an official of the Division of Power (DOE) mentioned Monday.

“Subsequent yr is the public sale for the unsubscribed 8,000 megawatts (MW) from GEA-2 whereas GEA-3 in November is for geothermal, hydro run-of-river, and pump-storage hydro,” mentioned DOE Undersecretary Rowena Guevarra, including that the capacities for GEA3 will probably be introduced upon the discharge of the Discover of Public sale.

Below the GEA-2, a complete capability of 11,600 MW set up goal was auctioned off. The DOE obtained bid provides totaling 3,580.76 MW however the capability was later trimmed to three,440.756MW after the bid bonds of three potential profitable bidders weren’t accepted for failure to adjust to the phrases of reference. Therefore, 8,159.24MW of capability had been unsubscribed.

The Power Regulatory Fee (ERC) earlier mentioned there will probably be one other Inexperienced Power Public sale Reserve (GEAR) value for the 8,159 megawatts (MW) of unsubscribed renewable power (RE) capability.

“If the unsubscribed could be auctioned off once more then the charges for that may be completely different,” ERC Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta mentioned.

A complete of 105 profitable bids have been issued notices of awards by the DOE for the GEA-2 final July 3. The three,440.756 MW of renewable power (RE) capacities have been dedicated for improvement and set up from 2024 to 2026.

The GEA program was designed to repeatedly set off the rise of RE capability within the nation, which is able to assist notice the federal government’s goal of 35 % RE within the power combine by 2030 and 50 % by 2040.

The primary spherical of GEA was performed in June final yr. It generated nearly 2,000MW of capacities that had been dedicated to ship power from 2023 to 2025. In the course of the GEA-1, the DOE issued 18 certificates of award of RE capability, that are dedicated to go onstream starting this yr.

The DOE will develop a selected public sale coverage and pointers for GEA-4.

Final July, lawyer Jose M. Layug Jr., co-chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce’s Renewable Power and Effectivity Committee, mentioned regulators should provide you with “probably the most optimum charges” to draw extra bidders to the federal government’s inexperienced power public sale.

“In the end, value is probably the most vital think about endeavors like this (GEA), so it needs to be set at a degree that’s most optimum to all stakeholders,” he mentioned.

“We laud the efforts of the DOE and ERC [Energy Regulatory Commission] within the aggressive transition to renewables with the formidable RE set up targets. Whereas the DOE didn’t meet its aspiration on this spherical, it will be good to assessment and assess a number of components that yielded such outcomes.”