The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said it approved the price determination mechanism (PDM) for the third round of the Green Energy Auction Program (GEA 3) except for run-of-river (ROR) hydro projects due to pending policy issues.
ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said the order for the PDM for the GEA 3 reserve price would be released soon.
“Since it’s PDM, there are no approved rates but parameters that will determine the rates,” Dimalanta said when asked for comment.
The PDM for ROR hydro was deferred, while the commission clarifies a policy matter with the Department of Energy (DOE), she said
The DOE announced plans to auction 100 megawatts (MW) of geothermal projects for delivery from 2025 to 2027, 300 MW of impounding hydro from 2028 to 2030, 4,000 MW of pumped storage hydro from 2028 to 2032 and 75 MW of ROR hydro from 2027 to 2029.
The total capacity involves 4,475 MW of new renewable energy capacity, covering both feed-in tariff (FIT)-eligible and non-FIT-eligible technologies.
Dimalanta said there was still unsubscribed capacity for FIT of ROR hydro, while allocated capacity existed in GEA 3.
“This may confuse stakeholders and may render one policy to conflict with the other. We are asking for the DOE’s way forward considering we are also reviewing the FIT rate for ROR hydro,” she said.
The PDM approval is expected to pave the way for the conduct of the GEA 3 next month.
“We have the GEA3, which will be done… January of next year,” Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said earlier.
The supply contract for FIT-eligible renewable energy projects will be for 20 years, starting from the commercial operation date (COD). Non-FIT-eligible projects will also have a 20-year delivery period, beginning from their respective CODs.
