More renewable energy projects OK’d

The Department of Energy (DOE) is ramping up work on renewable energy projects as it maintains its thrust to diversify the country’s energy mix. AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–The Department of Energy (DOE) is ramping up work on renewable energy projects as it maintains its thrust to diversify the country’s energy mix.

In a report posted on its website, the DOE said it has issued 565 renewable energy service contracts since guaranteed rates for RE projects were set, while another 140 are being processed as of April 30, 2014. This marked an improvement over the previous month’s figures when DOE said it had issued 500 renewable service contracts with 130 more in process.

The DOE has said it aims to process its present stack of applications within the year.

Out of all the service contracts issued, some 2,319.12 MW of power have been installed out of the total potential capacity of 9,358.496 MW.

In terms of technology, water remains the RE source of choice with 336 grid-use projects promising 5,075.96 MW of potential capacity and one own-use project with potential capacity of 1.5 MW. Presently, 131.45 MW of hydropower are already installed.

Solar power is a far second with 65 grid-use projects expected to produce 1,103.206 MW of capacity and five own-use projects with potential capacity of 1,574 MW.

Wind power comes next with 45 grid-use projects bringing 2,057.5 MW in potential capacity and one own-use project with 0.006 MW of potential capacity. At present, 33 MW of wind power are already online.

Geothermal is not far behind with 42 grid-use projects seen to chalk up 780 MW in potential output. So far, the Philippines has 1,867.69 MW of existing capacity from geothermal power.

Ocean energy, still a relatively new technology for RE developers worldwide, has drawn 5 projects with total potential capacity of 25 MW.

The Philippines’ current RE capacity is 5,400 MW, according to DOE data, and authorities say the country is on track to triple this to at least 15,000 MW of installed capacity by 2030. One way the DOE is fast-tracking projects is by giving guaranteed rates under the feed-in-tariff (FIT), which was set in July 2012.

Mandated under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, the Energy Regulatory Commission earlier set the FIT for the following renewable sources: P5.90 per kilowatt-hour for hydro, P6.63 per kilowatt-hour for biomass, P8.53 per kilowatt-hour for wind, and P9.68 per kilowatt-hour for solar.