DOE to award renewable energy contracts

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) hopes to award this month renewable energy (RE) contracts auctioned under the second open and competitive selection process (OCSP 2).

The agency is now finalizing the evaluation of bids for the 21 RE deals received last May, DOE Renewable Energy Management Bureau director Mario Marasigan said.

“We already conducted the evaluation, which is subject to final review. “We’re now finishing the final stage of review so hopefully we will finish the process this November,” he said.

Completing the evaluation process will allow the DOE to finally award the RE contracts this month.

“We’re just awaiting the results of the final review. Once that is done, we’re really hopeful that by November we can make the announcement,” Marasigan said.

Earlier this year, the DOE has tendered 21 renewable energy deals under OCSP 2, composed of four geothermal sites with aggregate potential capacity of up to 134 megawatts (MW) and 17 hydropower sites with capacity of up to 733.4 MW.

In May, the DOE has received eight offers for two geothermal concession areas and 31 proposals for 14 hydropower deals.

The geothermal power projects are located in Balut Island in Davao Occidental province, Amacan in Compostela Valley, Cabalian in Southern Leyte and Acupan in Benguet.

The first round of OCSP 2 was conducted in 2009 which resulted in the award of eight geothermal service contracts.