The Department of Energy (DOE) expects more renewable energy (RE) investments with an updated study on competitive renewable energy zones (CREZ)
DOE assistant secretary Mylene Capongcol told reporters at the sidelines of an offshore wind energy forum in Pasig City on Tuesday, new CREZs could include bodies of water hosting RE technologies such as floating solar, offshore wind and possibly wave and tidal.
Capongcol said the DOE has asked the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide a grant to fund the update of the study.
In 2020, the DOE, together with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines and the USAID, released a study on CREZ which identified areas with reduced risks for RE investments.
The study specifically located areas where RE generation development obstacles such as transmission access, energy curtailment, land permitting and regulatory barriers are easier to overcome.
The study that was launched in 2020 showed majority of RE potential in terms of CREZ is in Mindanao at 408,293 megawatts (MW), followed by Luzon with 360,244 MW and Visayas with 39,333 MW.
The most abundant resource, based on the study released on 2020, showed the biggest potential source is hydroelectric power with 655,034 MW followed by wind with 93,987 MW, solar with 58,110 MW, biomass with 374 MW and geothermal with 365 MW.
