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Brix Lelis - The Philippine Star
February 15, 2025 | 12:00am
Chris Warren Manalo, assistant manager at IEMOP’s trading operations department, said the government’s ongoing green energy auction (GEA) round is expected to contribute to the increase in RECs.
STAR / File
MANILA, Philippines — The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) is expecting a surge in renewable energy certificates (RECs) being traded this year, driven by the launch of more RE facilities.
Chris Warren Manalo, assistant manager at IEMOP’s trading operations department, said the government’s ongoing green energy auction (GEA) round is expected to contribute to the increase in RECs.
For GEA-3, the energy department has offered impounding hydro, pumped storage hydro and geothermal contracts with a combined capacity of 4,650 megawatts (MW).
“Any additional RE capacity would be equivalent to the additional RECs that can be issued for this year,” Manalo said at a recent press briefing.
Issued by IEMOP to eligible trading participants, an REC is equivalent to one MW of actual power generated from RE facilities and is traded in the renewable energy market (REM).
Each REC is currently capped at a price of P241.56 per MW-hour as determined by the Energy Regulatory Commission.
According to IEMOP, the trading of these certificates has ramped up since the full commercial operation of REM last December.
Latest IEMOP data showed that a total of 46,634 RECs amounting to P9.68 million were traded in the REM as of Feb. 3.
As the venue for buying and selling RECs, the REM enables trading participants to comply with their obligations under the Renewable Portfolio Standards, a policy that mandates power suppliers to source an agreed portion of their energy supply from eligible RE plants.
Under existing rules, renewables should account for at least 11 percent of the total energy sales of mandated participants, which include distribution utilities and electric cooperatives.
The government has said that the trading and usage of RECs is expected to become more frequent as the country gears up for more GEA rounds.
GEA is a program designed to trigger the expansion of the country’s RE capacity in line with the Marcos administration’s target of expanding the share of renewables in the energy mix to 35 percent by 2030.
