The Department of Energy (DOE) has set 7 August as the auction date for the country’s 230-megawatt (MW) Special Auction Round for Waste-to-Energy (WTE) projects.

In a notice released over the weekend, the agency said interested suppliers have until 16 June to complete registration requirements.

Registration for Qualified Suppliers opens on Monday, 25 May, following the release of the Green Energy Auction Reserve (GEAR) Price by the Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday.

The DOE said the GEAR Price will serve as the ceiling price for bids under the auction covering thermal combustion WTE technology.

The Special Auction Round covers 230 MW of capacity, with delivery targeted between September 2028 and March 2029.

The DOE launched the auction through the issuance of the Notice of Auction and Terms of Reference on 30 December 2025, followed by supplemental guidelines released on 28 April.

Once registration closes, the DOE will begin evaluating registration documents on 17 June and issue notices on registration deficiencies by 18 June.

Requests for reconsideration may be filed from 19 to 22 June, with resolutions scheduled from 23 to 24 June.

The agency will evaluate revised work programs from 25 to 29 June before issuing notices to rectify submissions from 30 June to 2 July.

Rectified work programs must be submitted from 3 to 7 July, while the final list of qualified bidders is scheduled for posting on 13 July.

Qualified suppliers will have until 14 July to submit comments and clarifications on the Terms of Reference ahead of the Pre-Bid Conference on 21 July. 

The DOE is expected to issue its Bid Bulletin consolidating all clarifications by 24 July.

For the auction proper, bidders are required to submit proof of bid bond posting on 27 July, with evaluations scheduled on 28 July.

Rectification of bid bonds will run from 31 July to 3 August, while evaluations of rectified submissions are scheduled from 4 to 5 August.

User-specific IDs will be issued on 6 August, one day before the auction proper.

Following the auction, validation of submitted bids will take place from 14 to 17 August. The DOE targets the issuance of Notices of Award to potential winning bidders on 26 August, with public posting scheduled the following day.

Potential winning bidders will then have until 26 September to submit post-auction documents before the DOE issues Certificates of Award from 13 to 15 October.

The DOE said the implementation of the Special Auction Round for WTE “marks a significant step toward strengthening the country’s waste management framework through the development of thermal combustion WTE facilities.” 

The agency added that the auction “reinforces the DOE’s commitment to transparent and efficient procurement of environmentally sound WTE technologies consistent with applicable environmental regulations, emissions standards, and solid waste management policies.”