THE Department of Energy will no longer include 75 megawatts (MW) worth of run-of-river technology projects for the third round of the government’s Green Energy Auction (GEA-3).
The agency said in a statement that such decision was made as the technology still has unsubscribed incentivized capacities under a different program of the government, particularly the feed-in-tariff mechanism.
The DOE expects to conduct actual auction proper for GEA-3 by next month which will now involve a total installation target of 4,650 MW.
Capacities to be auctioned off are 300 MW for impounding hydro projects throughout the country that must be operational between 2028 to 2030 and another 100 MW worth of geothermal projects in the entire country that must be running between this year to 2027.
The remaining 4,250 MW capacity under GEA-3 are all from pumped-storage hydro (PSH) broken down to 2,000 MW in Luzon that must run from 2028 to 2030; another 2,000 MW also in Luzon that must operate by 2031 to 2032; and the remaining 250 MW in Mindanao which should be completed by 2031 to 2035.
“The administration of GEA-3, with the majority of the capacity coming from PSH, will pave the way for greater entry of RE energy in the grid’s energy mix, provide grid stability and reliability, foster a cleaner and more sustainable future and at the same time ensure a transparent and competitive selection process of RE facilities,” the DOE said in a statement.
Under the current setup of GEA, interested RE producers compete for incentivized fixed power rates by offering prices that are lower than or equal to reserve prices set by the Energy Regulatory Commission.
