ACEN Corporation believes that the low turnout of the second Green Energy Auction Program (GEAP) is an indication that industry participants need to increase their efforts to accomplish the goal of 35% renewable energy (RE) share in the power mix. 

In a report by the Business Mirror, ACEN Corporation President Eric Francia said that the under-subscribed auction is a wake-up call for the industry to fill in the gap since the country is still at 22% in the 35% RE goal. 

Francia added that to reach the 35% and 50% goals by 2030 and 2040, respectively, the key players would need to build up the capacity of RE to 18,000 MW or 18 gigawatts (GW), on top of the 5 to 6% annual demand growth. 

The Department of Energy (DOE) only garnered 3,580.76 MW out of the 11,600 MW that was being offered by the GEAP 2 and the department is still considering if it will rebid the 8,019.24 MW of unsubscribed RE projects for 2024 to 2026. 

Following GEA-2, the DOE plans to organize GEA3 in the fourth quarter, which would focus on geothermal and impounding hydro projects.

Additionally, the energy department will create clear-cut auction policies and guidelines for GEA4.

DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla said it would open exchanges with the industry players to address concerns on permit processing and transmission connection to assure that the projects will be set in a more realistic timeline and within cutthroat power rates. 

In order to promote more RE investments in the country, the DOE aims to conduct the GEA each year.