DOE mulls LNG for 4th green energy auction

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) is looking at offering liquefied natural gas (LNG) technologies for the fourth round of its green energy auction (GEA) program.

GEA-4 is designed to cover integrated renewable energy and energy storage systems (IRESS), a comprehensive energy solution that combines RE projects with ESS components.

According to the DOE, the inclusion of LNG technologies in GEA-4 is in response to the expected high entry of RE into the grid due to the auction.

“A series of studies and simulations on several impacts, such as price, dispatch, contracts, energy, and capacity, will be conducted by the DOE,” it noted.

The DOE is also currently collaborating with development partners to study the design and economic viability of IRESS.

The agency is expected to release the indicative timeline of the GEA-4 activities through the issuance of the notice of auction.

Energy Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara earlier said the fourth round would take place as early as October this year and would involve a total capacity of over 8,200 megawatts (MW).

The GEA program aims to trigger the expansion of the country’s RE capacity to support the government’s target of a 35 percent RE share in the energy mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.

The first GEA round took place in June 2022, attracting a total of 1,996.3 MW of RE projects.

This comprised ground-mounted solar (1,490.38 MW), onshore wind (374 MW), hydro (99.15 MW), and biomass (3.4 MW).

GEA-2, on the other hand, generated a total of 3,440.756 MW of RE capacities that have been committed for development and installation from 2024 to 2026.

The third round of the auction is also expected this year, while GEA-5 will be conducted by mid-2025.

The DOE earlier said it plans to conduct the GEA annually to encourage developers who were not able to win in the past two rounds to participate in subsequent auction rounds.