The Department of Energy said 34 solar power companies passed the qualification to participate in the Green Energy Auction Program for the supply of 900 megawatts of solar capacity to the Luzon grid.
It said 12 wind companies also qualified to join the auction and supply for 360 MW of wind capacity to the Luzon grid under the GEAP.
The GEAP is a new market development support program introduced by the DOE to promote RE as one of the country’s primary sources of energy through a transparent and competitive selection process.
Three companies also passed the qualification to join the auction for 50 MW of biomass power, while four companies would participate in the supply of 80 MW of hydro capacity to the Luzon grid.
It said that in the Visayas grid, six bidders qualified to participate in the auction for 260 MW of solar capacity. Three companies qualified to bid for the supply of 120 MW of biomass capacity and two others will join the auction to supply 20 MW of wind capacity to the Visayas grid.
It said that in Mindanao, two solar companies would participate in the auction for the supply of 100 MW of solar capacity. Five hydro companies and four biomass power plants qualified to join the auction for 50 MW of hydro and biomass capacity, respectively.
The Energy Regulatory Commission earlier set the Green Energy Auction Reserve prices for solar, wind, biomass and run-of-river hydro technologies in support of the government’s thrust to accelerate the development of renewable energy.
It set the GEAR price for solar at P3.6779 per kWh, wind at P6.0584 per kWh, biomass at P5.0797 per kWh and run-of-river at P5.4913 per kWh.
The DOE will conduct the auction on June 17 and post the notice of award on or before June 24.
“The implementation of GEAP is seen to encourage greater private sector participation in the generation sector through RE. With GEAP, the country’s RE program will be met particularly in targeting attainment of 35 percent RE share in the generation mix by 2030,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said earlier.