Published
June 11, 2019, 10:00 PM By Myrna M. Velasco
The Department of
Energy (DOE) is enforcing changes in the award of service contracts to
renewable energy (RE) developers with its intended offer of pre-determined
areas (PDAs) for such installations.
In the draft revised
guidelines issued on the administration of RE operating and service contracts,
the energy department indicated that interested parties can now apply with the
DOE for PDAs on RE developments. The propounded rules are still subject to
input and comments by and from affected stakeholders.
The department’s
Renewable Energy Management Bureau (REMB) will be the entity in-charge of
identifying the pre-determined areas for RE projects; and the DOE offer to
investors must be accompanied with location maps and technical descriptions of
the area.
As specified, the PDAs
“shall refer to areas with renewable energy potential through sufficient
available technical data as may be determined by the REMB and as approved by
the Energy Secretary.”
In the past RE
installations in the country – especially during the era of the feed-in-tariff
(FIT) incentivized developments, it had been incumbent upon the preference of
investors where they shall be constructing their RE projects.
Such mode of
development though had several downsides – such as the catch-up mode
installations of underpinning transmission facilities; and over-developments
that could just happen in particular areas like solar installations in Negros
Occidental; and wind developments in Ilocos Norte.
For the proposed
auction of RE pre-determined areas, the DOE emphasized that it will schedule a
formal launching activity and the submission of RE service contract
applications shall be set upon fixed timeframes.
Essentially, the PDAs
for the RE sector take cue from the petroleum contracting round which is now
adopting the same mode of investment-applications on the DOE’s pre-determined
oil and gas blocks.
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