Only 30.9 percent or 3,580.76 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy (RE) capacity of the 11,600 MW made available by the Department of Energy (DOE) under the Green Energy Auction (GEA-2) program received bids from interested developers.
Under GEA-2, interested RE producers will compete for incentivized fixed power rates by offering prices that are lower than or equal to the Green Energy Auction Reserve (GEAR) prices set by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
The DOE said that in the bidding conducted 3 July, a total 1,968.98 MW have been committed for the construction of ground-mounted solar for the period 2024 to 2026.
For rooftop solar, a total of 9.39 MW were committed from 2024 to 2025 while 90 MW worth of floating solar were committed for construction in 2026.
For onshore wind, a total of 1,512.384 MW were committed for 2025 and 2026.
There were no commitments received for the development of biomass and waste-to-energy projects under GEA-2.
Last month, the ERC released GEAR prices for GEA-2 at P4.4043 per kilowatt hour (kWh) for ground-mounted solar, P4.8738 per kWh for rooftop solar, P5.3948 per kWh for floating solar, P5.8481 per kWh for onshore wind, P5.4024 per kWh for biomass and P6.2683 per kWh for biomass waste-to-energy.
DOE said the winning bidders will be posted next week and ranked based from lowest to highest bid price and stacked corresponding to the RE technology per grid.
The agency said notices of award will also be released next week while certificates of award will be issued to winning bidders upon submission of post-auction requirements within a 60-day period after providing a performance bond; affidavit of undertaking to deliver the committed capacity; and a statement that the RE contract has been executed for non-holders of contracts prior to GEA-2 registration.
DOE warned that non-compliance will result in the forfeiture of the award and of the bid bond.
Since the GEA is conducted on a yearly basis, RE developers unable to win in the second auction round and those unable to submit offers are encouraged to participate in subsequent auction rounds.
“We will review and we will also have discussions with the auction participants. We will decide on the unsubscribed capacity after our discussions,” said DOE undersecretary Rowena Guevara, said.
