The Department of Energy (DOE) said Monday it will conduct the third round of the Green Energy Auction (GEA-3) in August, covering geothermal, impounding hydro, run-of-river hydro and pumped-storage hydro projects, with a total capacity of 4,399 megawatts (4.399 gigawatts).”
Through the administration of the GEA-3, the DOE is not only paving the way for a more sustainable future but is also ensuring a transparent and competitive selection of renewable energy (RE) facilities,” the agency said.
It said the initiative is part of the DOE’s efforts to increase the utilization of the country’s renewable energy resources and achieve energy security and reliability goals.
The GEA-3 will specifically cater to non-feed-in-tariff eligible RE technologies, namely geothermal, impounding hydro, and pumped storage hydro, under Department Circular No. DC2023-10-0029, which provides specific auction policy and guidelines for these RE technologies in the Green Energy Auction Program.
The auction will include run-of-river (ROR) hydro, which is a FIT-eligible RE technology.
The estimated capacities for non-FIT eligible RE technologies are 699 megawatts from impounding hydro, 3,120 MW from pumped-storage hydro and 380 MW from geothermal sources. Target delivery for impounding hydro and pumped-storage hydro is set from 2028 to 2030, while geothermal’s schedule will be from 2024 to 2030.
About 200 MW of RE capacity from ROR hydro is expected to be auctioned, with a target delivery starting from 2026 to 2028.
The DOE plans to publish the notice of auction, terms of reference and release the price determination methodology for non-FIT eligible RE technologies, along with the Green Energy Auction Reserve price for ROR hydro, by April 29, 2024.
The auction itself is scheduled for Aug. 21, 2024. The notice of award for ROR hydro will be issued on Sept. 18, 2024, followed by the notice for non-FIT eligible technologies on Dec. 10, 2024.
