THE Department of Energy (DOE) will offer 2,020 megawatts (MW) of solar rooftop, ground-mounted solar and 120 MW of run-of-river hydro technologies under the seventh round of the green energy auction (GEA-7) program.
Under the draft terms of reference (TOR) released over the weekend, the agency will offer these renewable energy (RE) capacities for Mindanao, a move meant to stimulate investments in the region, address growing energy demand, and promote a more balanced and resilient power system across the country.
The DOE is proposing to set a target of 500MW of installed capacity for ground-mounted solar + battery energy storage system (BESS) for each year starting 2027 to 2030. This integration is expected to improve dispatch ability and address the intermittency of solar energy, supporting a more secure and flexible power system.
For solar rooftop, the target installation capacity is five MW per year during the same period.
For hydro, a total of 120MW of capacity is targeted for delivery between 2028 to 2030.
The DOE wants these RE facilities to be RPS (renewable portfolio standards)-eligible. RPS is a market-based policy that mandates electricity suppliers to source an agreed portion of their energy supply from eligbile RE sources.
The draft TOR provides prospective developers with the necessary guidelines to participate in the auction. ‘The DOE is requesting all interested parties to submit comments and recommendations to the draft TOR for the seventh round of GEA. In line with this, a focused group discussion will be held on July 27, 2026,’ the DOE notice stated.