THE Department of Energy (DoE) is set to issue in April the notice of auction and terms of reference for an estimated 4,399 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy capacity under the third round of its green energy auction (GEA-3) program.
“The DoE will conduct the third round of the GEA-3 this year as part of the department’s push for increased utilization of the country’s renewable energy resources and attainment of energy security and reliability,” the Energy department said in a statement on Monday.
The third round of the green energy auction will cater to non-feed-in-tariff (Non-FIT) eligible renewable energy (RE) technologies such as geothermal, impounding hydro, and pumped-storage hydro.
The GEA-3 will likewise cater to run-of-river hydro, which is a FIT-eligible RE technology, the DoE said.
Publication of the notice of auction, terms of reference, price determination methodology for Non-FIT eligible RE technologies, and green energy auction reserve price for run-of-river hydro is set for April 29.
The start of registration of qualified bidders will be May 13, to be followed by the announcement of qualified suppliers on July 4.
The auction proper will be on Aug. 21, and the notice of award for FIT-eligible RE technology is targeted for Sept 18.
The announcement of the award for Non-FIT RE eligible technologies is scheduled for Dec. 10.
Broken down, estimated capacities for Non-FIT eligible RE technologies are 699 MW from impounding hydro, 3,120 MW from pumped-storage hydro, and 380 MW from geothermal.
The DoE requires a delivery commencement period for impounding hydro and pumped storage hydro from 2028 to 2030.
For geothermal, the delivery commencement period should be from 2024 to 2030, the DoE said.
“An estimated 200 MW of RE capacity from run-of-river hydro is expected to be auctioned, with a target delivery commencement period [from] 2026 to 2028,” it added.
“Through the administration of the GEA-3, the DOE is not only paving the way for a more sustainable future but is also ensuring a transparent and competitive selection of RE facilities,” the department also said. — S.J.Talavera