928 renewable energy contracts okayed by DOE

The Department of Energy awarded 928 renewable energy contracts with a combined capacity of 30 gigawatts (3,000 megawatts) as of May, an official said Wednesday.

Energy Undersecretary Jesus Cristino Posadas said during The Global Hyperscaler Market Forum the DOE was aggressively pushing for the Philippines to become a haven of energy investment.

“The Philippines is a middle-income and developing nation and its prevailing true costs of power have significantly weakened our ability to industrialize at a more rapid pace, hence the Philippines Department of Energy has been relentless in revolutionizing the country’s energy landscape to transform the Philippines into a haven of energy investments,” Posadas said.

“We have been proactively pursuing policies and programs that will help us obtain energy security and socio-economic growth against the backdrop of a sustainable, competitive energy future for the coming generations,” he said.

Posadas said energy independence and self-sufficiency are the core aspects of building a more efficient, sustainable and competitive power system and that the DOE continues to promote and facilitate the exploration, development, commercialization and utilization of indigenous renewable energy resources to reduce dependence on imported fuels.

The DOE said that between 2009 and 2020, the country added about 2,339 MW RE capacity installations which translated to total investments of P221.35 billion. In 2020, the renewable energy share was at 29 percent of the total capacity mix and 21 percent of the total generation mix.

“Indigenous energy resources and private sector investment are central in achieving the country’s RE targets and vision,” Posadas said.

“The goal is to achieve a 35 percent RE share in the power generation mix by 2030 and at least 50 percent by 2040,” he said.

The DOE, in following the National Renewable Energy Program 2020-2040 as the blueprint towards increasing RE share, declared a moratorium on the endorsement of new greenfield coal fired power plants in October last year, signaling the shift towards establishing a more flexible power mix.

The agency said this “would help build the system that is resilient to structural demand changes and able to accommodate new, cleaner, and indigenous technological innovations.”

Posadas said DOE also allowed the full participation of foreign firms in large-scale geothermal projects which have initial investment capitalization of about $50 million for financial and technical assistance agreements.

Biomass projects including waste-to-energy are open to 100-percent foreign ownership.