The Energy Regulatory Commission has set the preliminary Green Energy Auction Reserve price for waste-to-energy projects at P8.0167 per kilowatt-hour, subject to public consultations.
The rate is lower than the indicative prices submitted by companies interested in participating in the WTE auction, ERC Chairperson Francis Saturnino Juan said.
This comes as the Department of Energy recently issued the notice of auction and terms of reference for a special round of the Green Energy Auction Program. The round covers 230 megawatts of waste-to-energy projects for delivery between Jan. 1 and March 1, 2028.
The DOE invited qualified suppliers to participate in the special round, which is exclusive to WTE facilities using thermal combustion technology to process municipal solid waste.
The DOE expects the ERC to release the final price for WTE no later than 60 days from the issuance of the notice of auction, which was released Dec. 30, 2025.
Under DOE rules, the ERC must consider the capital-intensive nature of WTE development and the long-term operational horizon of the projects. The commission will also account for secondary benefits such as waste management, the reduction of the need for new sanitary landfills and greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
The DOE stated that any bid with a price offer higher than the reserve price or a capacity beyond the prescribed limit “shall be deemed non-responsive, shall be discarded automatically and shall not be included in the ranking.”
Bids will be ranked automatically by an electronic platform from lowest to highest price. The supply delivery period for any winning bidder will be 25 years.
The agency previously issued a circular establishing the framework for integrating WTE technology into the country’s generation mix, implementing the Clean Energy Scenario under the Philippine Energy Plan.
The circular, signed by Energy Secretary Sharon Garin on Nov. 3, 2025, states that integrating WTE into the power mix is a strategic approach to address growing energy demand and increasing solid waste generation.
Projects that process municipal solid waste from highly urbanized cities or clustered local government units and achieve commercial operations by March 31, 2028, will be designated as “Pioneer WTE” projects. These projects are eligible for priority permitting, dispatch and other incentives.
