The Renewable Energy Market (REM) – the country’s venue for trading renewable energy certificates (REC) has been launched by the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC) on Thursday.
Following the issuance of Department of Energy Circular No. DC2022-06-0019, the REM interim commercial operations will commence on August 26.
“The REM will incentivize the harnessing of our wealth of natural resources, bringing in additional, more sustainable sources of electricity. We welcome this diversification that will safeguard our energy supply security,” PEMC president Leonido Pulido III said in a statement.
Under Republic Act 9513 or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, PEMC will be the designated party to perform the RE Registrar (RER) functions. It will establish an RER and will issue, keep, and verify RE Certificates corresponding to energy generated from the eligible facilities. These certificates will be used for compliance with the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS).
During the interim commercial operations, PEMC said that participants are expected to participate in validation and confirmation activities of the RECs they would receive.
“There is no trading of RECs, and no financial transactions are involved during the interim period, pending the approval of the REC Price Cap,” PEMC head of corporate planning and communications Clares Loren Jalocon said.
Since the REM participant registration in 2020, PEMC has processed and approved around 96% of the application.
“The pandemic notwithstanding, the overwhelming response to the REM has been beyond anything we expected. As of July 2022, with the REM expected participants reaching 281, 98% of this have lodged their application with PEMC expressing their interest to participate,” Jalocon said.
The Philippine REM is a venue for buying and selling Renewable Energy certificates, a market-based instrument that represents the property rights and other non-power attributes of RE generation.
PEMC will issue one REC for every megawatt-hour of actual generation from eligible RE facilities to REM participants.
