DOE: 3rd clean power auction finished by yearend

Department of Energy facade from DOE / FILE

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) will make sure that the third round of green power auction will be completed within the year, according to Undersecretary Rowena Guevara.

Guevara showed confidence at a Senate budget hearing on Wednesday about meeting the DOE’s target to open more renewables capacity to the private sector.

“Our target for the Green Energy Auction 3 is to finish it before the end of the year such that the pumped storage hydro, [more than] 3,000 megawatts (MW), will be able to come in five years from now,” she said in response to Senate energy committee chairperson Sen. Pia Cayetano.

According to Cayetano, many investors have expressed interest in joining the bidding.

“And we need it because this will address Sen. Risa’s (Hontiveros) and my concern, and all the other renewable energy advocates’ concerns because we’ll have the storage,” she said.

“We keep on saying that is the problem why we cannot fully embrace renewables as fast as we want to,” she added.

Equipping the renewable energy market with more pumped storage would allow the country’s grid to manage variable RE, subsequently increasing the latter’s capacity in the power mix.

Pumped storage can store excess clean energy as well as create electricity by pumping water from two separate reservoirs.

The DOE will bid out 3,000 MW covering geothermal, impounding hydro and pumped-storage hydro, and run-of-river Hydro.

The estimated capacities are 699 MW from impounding hydro; 3,120 MW from pumped storage hydro; and 380 MW from geothermal.

The Green Energy Auction Program seeks to speed up the growth of renewable energy capacity in the Philippines to help achieve the government’s goal of scaling up its share in the power mix to 50 percent by 2040. Currently, its share is at 22 percent.

The DOE earlier said it was also gearing up for the fourth GEA, which may include 8,200 MW.

Guevarra previously said the DOE has decided to include an energy storage system (ESS) for the GEA-4. According to the agency, ESS refers to a facility that can absorb energy directly from the grid or distribution system.