DOE endorses 179 power projects for impact study by NGCP

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) has cleared 179 power projects for system impact study (SIS) with the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) as of end-November.

From January to November, renewable energy (RE) developments accounted for about 97.2 percent or 174 of the total endorsed projects, while the remaining were energy storage system components.

The SIS is conducted to determine the capacity of the power grid to accommodate a new connection and identify necessary improvements such as additional transmission lines, transformers or substations.

As the sole transmission operator in the country, the NGCP is responsible for the operation, maintenance and development of the state-owned power grid.

For November alone, seven RE projects, consisting of five solar, one biomass and one wind, secured DOE certification to undertake SIS with the NGCP.

These projects include CleanTech Global Renewables Inc.’s 187.2-megawatt Tayabas South wind project in Quezon, Pilipinas Renewable Energy Corp.’s 15-MW Panay biomass project in Iloilo and Embrace Nature Power1 Corp.’s 180-MW peak solar project in South Cotabato.

Other solar projects cleared were Zamboanguita Solar Power Corp.’s 60 MWp in Negros Oriental, Upgrade Energy Philippines Inc.’s 47 MWp in Capiz, Fortune Renewable Energy Corp.’s 120 MWp in Cagayan and Enfinity Philippines Renewable Resources Third Inc.’s 11.22 MWp in Agusan del Norte.

The construction and completion of these generation facilities is aligned with the government’s push to scale up the share of renewables in the energy mix to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.

Currently, renewables only account for around 22 percent of the power generation mix.