DOE plans auction of renewable power

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to auction off 2,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy capacity to encourage developers to put up renewable energy (RE) projects, according to a top official of the agency.

The DOE is working on an RE program to attract investors in putting up clean energy power projects, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said during the pre-SONA Economic and Infrastructure Forum Monday.

“We want to build 2,000 MW of RE in 10 years (through) RE auction and green energy rate to motivate investors in the RE program,” Cusi said.

Under the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) 2011-2030, DOE is targeting to triple the existing renewable capacity of 5,438 MW in 2010 to 15,304 MW by 2030.

Under the government’s long–term renewable energy roadmap, RE installed capacity is seen to reach 20,000 MW by 2040.

To fasttrack RE development in the country, Cusi said the agency has asked the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) to review and make a recommendation on the concept of giving an allocation of 2,000 MW and green energy rate for RE development.

“We will finalize the policy after NREB gives us its recommendations,” Cusi said.

The DOE is looking to set a ceiling rate for RE players to compete against one another.

Meanwhile, the capacity allocation would be based on the type of power needed in the power grid.

“We can’t afford to have excess RE capacity because that will push rates up and we cannot risk our supply having intermittent sources,” Cusi said.

Cusi said the program would be different from the feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme implemented before.

Under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, the FIT system details perks for power developers for a period of 20 years to invest in the more expensive renewable sector.

Each RE technology was given different allocation and rate over a period of three years.

Unlike solar and wind, the FIT allocation for biomass and run-of-river technologies remain undersubscribed three years after the program’s implementation.