3 new rounds of green energy auction set

Developers seeking to secure long-term contracts for their renewable energy (RE) projects should brace for the three new rounds of the Green Energy Auction (GEA) that the Department of Energy (DOE) slates until next year.

Energy Undersecretary Cristina Rowena Guevara said on Wednesday that the GEA-4 is scheduled to be launched before the year's end, right after the third round.

The new round of bidding aims to attract more than 8,200 megawatts (MW) of new RE capacities, including supply from energy storage systems (ESS).

“Originally, we're thinking of 8,200 MW for GEA-4 but we might increase this as we saw that fossil fuel overtakes renewables,” Guevara said.

Additionally, she said the DOE aims to launch GEA-5 by mid-next year. However, the specific volume of offshore wind projects involved in the fifth round has not yet been disclosed.

According to her, the looming rounds of auctions will also offer special incentive rates for RE projects based on their ability to provide peak or mid-merit supply.

GEA reserve (GEAR) prices will act as a ceiling price. However, to obtain the incentive, players must compete and make the lowest offer.

After the successful first two rounds of GEA, it can be recalled that the DOE set the third round before the end of the year, which will involve 4,399 MW of capacities. This will include 3,120 MW of power from pumped-storage hydro; 699 MW from impounding hydro; 380 MW from geothermal; and 200 MW from run-of-river hydro.

However, Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said the prices for the third round remain indefinite. 

"We’ve been working on it but we need to formalize the process because there will be public consultation for the rates so there’s a process that we have to go through,” Dimalanta said.

Earlier, the ERC mentioned the possibility that subsequent rounds of GEA may not have GEAR prices to offer more flexibility to developers.

The first GEA auction took place in June 2022, which attracted a total of 1,996.93 MW of RE projects. These projects included 1,490.38 MW of ground-mounted solar, 374 MW of onshore wind, 99.15 MW of hydro, and 3.4 MW of biomass.

The second GEA auction, GEA-2, was concluded in July 2023, awarding a total of 3,440.756 MW of RE projects. 

Among these projects were 1,878.982 MW of ground-mounted solar, 1,462.384 MW of onshore wind, 90 MW of floating solar, and 9.39 MW of rooftop solar.

The DOE conducts GEA yearly to accelerate the government’s targets of integrating 35 percent renewable energy in the energy mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.