THE Department of Energy (DOE) said 21 or half of the total 42 service contracts awarded to local renewable energy (RE) developer Solar Philippines are subject to termination.
This has prompted the DOE to initiate a plan to issue new terms for succeeding green energy auctions.
The DOE gave the update during the Senate finance subcommittee hearing on the agency’s budget, after Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada raised the concern over the failure of Solar Philippines to fulfill its energy commitments after getting service contracts from the government.
“Twenty-one of the contracts are being processed for termination because (Solar Philippines was) not able to deliver the scheduled targets of the work program,” Rowena Guevara, energy undersecretary, said during the hearing.
Estrada said a total of 473 service contracts were awarded to various RE companies to build solar farms as of last March for a total capacity of 32,359 megawatts (MW).
Estrada said of the 10,000 MW committed by Solar Philippines, only 174.41 MW or 2 percent, have been completed and have started commercial operations.
“Majority of the total commitment have not yet entered the development stage and remain in various phases of pre-development,” the senator added, noting the possible effect on DOE’s RE development targets.
The DOE said of the 32,359 MW covered by service contracts, other developers have fully developed or are developing 22,000 MW of capacity.
“The remaining 10,000 MW depend on Solar Philippines, which could significantly compromise the DOE’s ability to meet its commitment to transitioning to renewable energy,” Estrada said.
Guevara said the DOE would issue a new set of terms of reference for its succeeding green energy auctions with the performance of RE developers as qualifying conditions.
“We are going to be issuing the terms of reference soon. The performance or non-performance of projects will be included,” Guevara assured.
