The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said the Department of Energy’s (DOE) third round of Green Energy Auction (GEA-3) can be pushed back until the first quarter of next year.
Monalisa Dimalanta, ERC chairperson, said GEA-3 was supposed to be conducted this month but was moved since the pricing mechanism for the process is yet to be finalized.
GEA-3 will involve geothermal, run-of-river and pump storage hydro technologies.
Under the current setup of GEA, interested renewable energy producers compete for incentivized fixed power rates by offering prices that are lower than or equal to GEA reserve (GEAR) prices set by the ERC.
The ERC and the DOE are considering allowing developers to offer their own bid prices which is considered more apt for technologies involved in the current round of the program.
“We’ve met with the DOE about it since the approach of not having a GEAR or that cap, we are just experiencing challenges on setting the pricing parameters… We went down to the detailed discussions on what those pricing parameters should be…,” Dimalanta told reporters at the Asean Clean Energy Week conference in Pasay City last week.
“What we want is if bidders join the auction, the steps are also laid out for them on what needs to be undertaken after they get awarded as we want it to be as clear as possible that whatever rates they won will still be subject to the review,” Dimalanta added.
The ERC said will re-bid capacities for floating solar power.
Dimalanta said the regulatory body will conduct another round of discussions with floating solar power developers on possible GEAR improvements but removing GEAR prices will not be applicable as it has a different business model compared to technologies under GEA-3.
“We’re open to not having a GEAR for geothermal and pumped storage hydro because we recognize the business model there is different, the funding requirements are different so it’s very hard to set out that number and make them bid,” Dimalanta said.
“For geothermal and pumped storage hydro, there are only limited players so there’s really no auction to speak of. But for solar, there are so many players so it’s really a prime condition for an auction with a set tariff,” Dimalanta further said. -Jed Macapagal
