The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued the revised guidelines for the Green Energy Auction Program (GEAP) opening the competitive selection process for power supply exclusively to renewable energy (RE) projects.
RE developers will compete to enjoy a special tariff that will be added to the feed-in tariff allowance which in the end will redound to the benefit of consumers.
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi signed the revised guidelines last November 3 through a department circular, which the DOE expects will further promote RE as it provides an additional venue for the dispatch of such projects.
The guidelines said RE power facilities built and will be built after the RE Act may be offered under GEAP provided these power plants have no existing power supply agreements with any distribution utilities.
Under GEAP, the DOE must publish a notice of auction which will indicate the coverage of the needed supply, while the Energy Regulatory Commission will come up with the Green Energy Auction Reserve Price that will be the maximum price offer for a particular auction.
Among the revisions made by the DOE in the updated guidelines include the opt-in mechanism which would allow any distribution utility to procure portions of the capacity auctioned to allow them to procure supply in a competitive environment.
“The implementation of GEAP is seen to encourage greater private sector participation in the generation sector through RE. With GEAP, the country’s RE program will be met particularly in targeting attainment of 35 percent RE share in the generation mix by 2030,” Cusi said.
As of end-2020, the combined installed capacity of RE power plants composed of geothermal, hydro, biomass, solar and wind projects reached 7,653 megawatts equivalent to 29 percent of the mix.
For the same period, total power generation from RE sources hit 21,609 gigawatt hours equivalent to 21 percent.
