The Department of Energy (DOE) is awaiting final approval from the Office of the President (OP) before announcing the winners of its bidding process for the development of hydrogen resource areas in the Philippines.
Speaking at the Pilipinas Conference 2024 in Makati City, DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla confirmed that the agency has completed the bidding process and is now waiting for the official go-ahead from the OP.
“That’s proceeding, but then the service contracts have to be submitted to the Office of the President for approval. So, I don’t want to pre-empt the Office of the President from acting on it and so, we will make the announcements when the President has approved the same,” Lotilla said.
The bids were part of the 2024 Philippine Bid Round for service contracts related to native hydrogen exploration, specifically in Zambales. In August, DOE undersecretary Alessandro Sales confirmed that five applications were submitted which all passed the initial completeness check. The applications are now undergoing detailed evaluation, which includes legal, technical, and financial assessments. The highest-ranking applicants are to be rated to the OP by the end of the year.
This forms part of the broad DOE push to attract investments in hydrogen as a clean energy source. Earlier this year, the DOE issued a circular encouraging the use of hydrogen, particularly in co-firing applications with natural gas, to reduce carbon emissions and make energy production more sustainable.
