The Department of Energy said it endorsed 24 power generation projects to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines for system impact studies in October.
The latest batch consists of 17 new applications and seven amendments, bringing the total number of issued endorsements to 142 through the end of October.
A system impact study (SIS) is a critical requirement that determines the capacity of the power grid to accommodate additional loads and identifies necessary infrastructure improvements such as transmission lines, transformers or substations.
Among the largest projects endorsed is the 816-megawatt Negros Occidental offshore wind project developed by Energy Development Corp.
Other major wind initiatives include Envision Energy Philippines Corp. 700-MW Paracale offshore wind project in Camarines Norte and the 512-MW Ilosong wind project in Quezon province.
The government also cleared several onshore wind and solar developments for study. These include Envision Energy 440-MW Santa Fe wind project and South Luzon Energy Solutions Inc. 304-MW Bagac wind project, both located in Bataan. In the Visayas region, Sunpalo Solar Energy Inc. received an endorsement for its 250-megawatt-peak San Miguel solar project in Leyte.
Regional wind energy projects also featured prominently in the October list. The department endorsed Great Atlantic New Energy Inc. 200-MW Dapitan wind facility in Zamboanga del Norte, San Nicholas Wind Energy Corp. 200-MW wind project in Nueva Ecija and Bago-Negros Energy Corp. 300-MW Bago wind project in Negros Occidental.
Other notable renewable entries include JICA Power and Development Corp. 188.5-MW Viejo Iloilo solar plant and two projects from PacificWind Renewables Corp., comprising a 150-MW wind farm in Negros Oriental and a 100-MW facility in Aklan. Zamba Star Wind Corp. also received an endorsement for a 100-MW project in Zambales.
Energy storage and smaller-scale renewable projects rounded out the list. The government endorsed Therma Visayas Inc. Naga-1 and Naga-2 battery energy storage systems in Cebu, each rated at 43.875 MW, alongside Megawatt Solutions Inc. Enerhiya Delas Islas projects in the Visayas totaling 120 MW.
Additional approvals were granted to Citicore Solar Batangas 1 Inc. 125.2-MW solar plant, Smith Bell Mini-Hydro Corp. 10.5-MW hydro project in Nueva Vizcaya and Lumino Biomass Power Inc. 58-MW biomass plant in Surigao del Sur. Smaller facilities include a 10-MW solar project in Tarlac and a 15-MW integrated waste facility in Nasugbu.
