Philippine DOE readies auction for 4 geothermal sites this month
Mt Bulusan, Philippines (source: flickr/ agapbulusan, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
2 Ara 2014
The Philippines wants to reduce its dependency on oil and currently has already awarded 638 projects of renewable energy amounting to 2,350 MW.
Local news from the Philippines state that the Government plans to offer 24 renewable energy prospects for development and utilization through an open and competitive selection process (OCSP) that will start next month, an official of the Energy department said on Thursday night.
“We’re launching the OCSP for hydropower and geothermal resource areas on Dec. 15,” Mario C. Marasigan, director of the department’s Renewable Energy Bureau, told reporters in Makati City.
“Based on the list that we have, there will be four geothermal sites and 20 hydropower sites,” he added.
Two of the geothermal sites to be offered are in Mindanao, while the other two are in Luzon and the Visayas.
The 20 hydropower resources areas, meanwhile, are spread across the country.
“We have already studied these areas in the past but there’s no one applying to develop them yet,” Mr. Marasigan said.
“We believe that by offering these sites to the private sector, there are bigger opportunities for us to put up power projects there and grow the renewable energy sector.”
Mr. Marasigan said the Energy department will be conducting the last leg of public consultation on the planned OCSP within this week before proceeding with the launch.
“We are done with Mindanao and Luzon sites. So we will just have one more consultation in Cebu for the Visayas leg before the Dec. 15 launch,” Mr. Marasigan said.
“Our target is to award the contracts by June 2015.”
MONITORING
Mr. Marasigan said that while this exercise involves renewable energy service contracts, all project phases will be subject to strict monitoring of the Energy department.
“We will continuously monitor their progress and cancel their contracts if they are not moving within six months,” he said.
Should a contract be cancelled, it will be offered again to other developers, but the “delinquent” party will not be allowed to regain the deal.
GETTING THERE
Data from the department showed that as of end-October, the government has already awarded 638 renewable energy contracts since the passage of the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.
Projects with capacity totaling 2,350 megawatts (MW) are operational, while 10,068.03 MW are in various stages of development.
The government has been actively pushing development of the country’s indigenous sources of energy in a bid to reduce its dependence on imported oil.
Besides the tender planned for renewable energy deals, the department is also in the process of auctioning off coal and petroleum areas under the fifth leg of the Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR 5).
Launched in May, the PECR 5 showcases 26 resource areas — 11 for petroleum and 15 for coal — that are offered to local and international investors.
MALACAÑANG TO AWARD
The Energy department is scheduled to award new coal operating contracts on Dec. 18.
It received nine applications for seven coal areas during the bid submission deadline last Sept. 26. A post-qualification evaluation is under way.
For petroleum, deadline for service contract applications will be on Mar. 31. Winning bidders will be endorsed to Secretary Petilla on June 4. Upon endorsement, Mr. Petilla will evaluate the applications and forward them to Malacañang for further review.
All petroleum contracts are subject to the approval by the President before awarding, as required by Presidential Decree No. 87.
Under PECR 4 in 2012, the Energy department offered 38 coal and 15 petroleum blocks to investors.
The auction attracted 69 bids for 28 coal contracts and 20 offers for 11 petroleum deals, but only 11 bids for coal and three for petroleum were awarded.
There are currently 29 petroleum contracts and 66 coal contracts that are under various stages of exploration and development.
Source: Business World
