Philippines’ Department of Energy awards 3.43 GW of renewable projects

The Department of Energy, Philippines, has revealed the list of winning bidders under the second phase of the Green Energy Auction Programme, awarding a total of 3.43 GW of solar and wind projects through its Green Energy Auction-Bids Evaluation and Awards Committee (GEA-BEAC).

This follows the latest round of bidding for projects to be constructed at 105 different sites across the country’s Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao regions. As per the results, a total of 42 bidders were deemed successful. The allocated capacity will be installed during a three-year period, from 2024 to 2026. The auction awarded 1.87 GW of ground-mounted solar projects, 9.63 MW of rooftop solar projects, 90 MW of floating solar projects, and 1.46 GW of onshore wind projects.

In June 2023, BlueFloat Energy, a Spanish offshore wind project developer, announced plans to construct a portfolio of 7.6 GW offshore wind projects in the Philippines. The portfolio will be spread throughout four locations: Central Luzon, South Luzon, Northern Luzon, and Southern Mindoro. Each of the sites, with a capacity ranging from 1.5 GW to 3.5 GW, has contracts with the corporation for wind energy service.

In April 2023, a road map for the growth of offshore wind in the Philippines was published by the Department of Energy of the Philippines and the World Bank Group. Also, in May 2023, SunAsia Energy, a Philippines-based solar developer, and Blueleaf Energy were selected by the Philippines’ Department of Energy to build and operate six large-scale floating solar projects totalling 610.5 MW. The plants will be installed on Laguna Lake. The department has issued solar energy operating contracts for 1.3 GW of floating projects.

REGlobal’s Views: The Philippines’ Department of Energy awarded 19 contracts to develop 1.57 GW of renewable energy projects in June 2022, under the first round of the 2 GW Green Energy Auction Program. Such auctions are very important for the country to attract private parties to set up large projects and achieve the planned 35 per cent renewable energy share by 2030.