DOE clears 40 power projects for grid study

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) has endorsed 40 power projects for system impact studies (SIS) with the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) since January.

According to DOE data published yesterday, 30 of the total issued endorsements were for renewable energy (RE) projects.

Other projects include eight energy storage systems and two conventional generation facilities.

The SIS is conducted to determine the capacity of the national grid to accommodate a new connection and identify necessary improvements such as additional transmission lines, transformers or substations.

As the sole transmission operator in the country, the NGCP is responsible for the operation, maintenance and development of the state-owned power grid.

In April alone, DOE cleared five RE projects with a combined capacity of about 520.1 megawatts (MW), which were all new applications.

These endorsements consist of the 50.1-MW solar farm of Villar-owned PAVI Green Camsur Renewable Energy Inc. in Camarines Sur and the 30-MW geothermal project of Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. in Sorsogon.

The list also includes an 80-MW wind park in Camarines Sur of Amihan Power Inc., a 160-MW wind facility in Negros Occidental of Freya Renewables Inc. and the 200-MW Abra-Kalinga wind project of JBD Water Power Inc.

These projects bode well for the national target of expanding the share of renewables in the energy pie to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.

Currently, renewables only account for around 22 percent of the Philippines’ power generation mix.

But the DOE expects over 11,600 MW of committed RE projects to come online until 2030, a much-needed boost in the country’s power supply.

Broken down, solar projects have an aggregate capacity of 8,431.19 MW, followed by wind with 2,233.24 MW, hydropower with 836.38 MW, geothermal with 74.22 MW and biomass with 50.28 MW.