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Brix Lelis - The Philippine Star
February 13, 2025 | 12:00am
Department of Energy (DOE).
Philstar.com / Irra Lising
Exceeds 4,650-MW installation target
MANILA, Philippines — The government has attracted 7,500 megawatts of power projects in the third green energy auction round (GEA-3), surpassing a 4,650-MW installation target.
The Department of Energy (DOE) said 14 projects with a delivery period between 2025 and 2035 were submitted in the auction round on Tuesday.
“This marks a significant step toward realizing the energy agenda of President Marcos to accelerate the country’s transition to renewable energy (RE) and attain energy security and reliability,” the DOE said.
Broken down, 6,950-MW of projects joined the bidding for pumped-storage hydropower (PSH), marking a 63.5-percent increase from the 4,250-MW intended for the technology.
PSH facilities are a type of energy storage system that can inject power into the grid to reinforce supply and balance the intermittency of variable renewable sources like solar and wind.
Currently, state-owned Kalayaan 1 and 2 with a combined capacity of over 300 MW in Laguna are the only operating PSH facilities in the country.
According to the DOE, impounding hydro was also oversubscribed, attracting a total offer capacity of 550 MW — almost double the installation target of 300 MW.
Geothermal, in contrast, only secured a bid capacity of 30.89 MW, falling short of the 100-MW installation goal.
“The aggregate capacity of accepted bids underscores the growing confidence of investors and developers in the Philippine RE sector,” the DOE said.
The GEA-3 bids will be ranked by offer price, from lowest to highest, and will be stacked corresponding to the respective RE technology until the installation target is fully reached.
The notice of award is targeted for issuance as early as May, while the issuance of the certificate of award is expected from June 6 to July 4.
GEA-3 aims to create a “fair and competitive environment for RE development, ensuring transparency, innovation and deployment of cost-effective RE technologies across the country,” the DOE said.
The last time the DOE conducted a GEA round was in 2023, when it offered 11,600 MW of RE capacity.
The auction, however, only secured 3,580.76 MW of committed capacities, leaving more than 8,000 MW of unsubscribed capacity.
Under the Philippine Energy Plan, the government wants to scale up the share of renewables in the energy mix to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040 from the current 22 percent.
