The ongoing bid to appropriate so-called pre-determined areas (PDA) for hydropower, geothermal and wind energy project proponents has attracted 25 applicants, the Department of Energy (DOE) said on Tuesday.
According to the DOE, the exercise has attracted proposals in 13 of the available 20 PDAs under the fourth open and competitive selection process (OCSP4) for hydropower, geothermal and wind energy projects.In it, prospective developers bid for the right to develop pre-determined areas where the DOE has conducted prior resource studies.
Under OCSP4, the DOE offered three PDAs for geothermal with total potential capacity of 160 megawatts (MW), 14 PDAs for hydropower with total potential capacity of 87.96 MW and three PDAs for wind with total capacity that is yet to be determined.
For hydro PDAs, only eight of 14 PDAs received bids while geothermal had two of three slots even as all wind PDAs attracted bidders.
Those PDAs with no bids may be declared open for direct application under existing guidelines.
The DOE said this was the first OCSP exercise to offer PDAs for wind that resulted from the recent completion resource assessment in the Philippines.
DOE assistant secretary Mylene Capongcol who presided over the OCSP4 Review and Evaluation Committee (REC), opened the bids and determination their completeness last Thursday.
For hydro PDAs, only QuadRiver Energy Corp. submitted complete applications for five projects including Tinoc 4, Alilem, Main Aklan, Sawaga and Catuiran upper cascade for a total capacity of 44 MW.
Three companies submitted applications for hydro PDAs including Regenerative Sustainable Projects Inc. for 0.5 MW Basak II, Paragon Green Energy Development Corp. but whose documents were incomplete.
For geothermal, the Energy Development Corp. submitted complete documents for the 100 MW Buguias-Tinoc and the 20 MW Mt. Sembrano.
For wind, complete applications were submitted by Mainstream Renewable Power Philippines and PacificWind Renewables Corp. for the San Jose prospect.
For the Pantabangan wind PDA, five companies submitted complete applications including Mainstream Renewable Power Philippines, First Gen Visayas Energy Inc., GigaWind2 Inc., PacificWind Renewables Corp. and Freya Renewables Inc. while incomplete applications were made by wpd Philippines Onshore Inc., L MORE 44 Construction OPC and South Luzon Sustainable Energy Inc.
As for the Bagac wind PDA, Mainstream Renewable Power Philippines and PacificWind Renewables Corp. submitted completed applications while three others, including those by wpd Philippines Onshore Inc., L MORE 44 Construction OPC and South Luzon Energy Solutions Inc., were deemed incomplete.
The DOE said bidders with incomplete submissions had only until last Monday to file for a motion for reconsideration.
The REC is reviewing the petitions for reconsideration of two each from hydro and wind PDA bidders.
The timeline for the legal, technical and financial evaluation of bids is seen completed on 12 October this year with the awarding of contracts targeted on 24 November.
Accepted proponents are required to settle the processing fee within three days from receipt of the order of payment.
