The Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking “investor-challengers” in the auction of at least 10 coal blocks in Mindanao covered by the unsolicited proposal of Manila-based Grand Thermal Power Corporation.

In a notice published by the energy department, the submission of offers of the interested companies will be on March 15 this year, also the date when the tenders will be formally opened.

The coal blocks that are up for "bid-matching" are sited in Bislig City and Trento, Agusan del Sur in Mindanao – and these are offered under the precept of the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP) which was devised by the outgoing Duterte administration.

Interested "challenger-investors" had been given 60 days in firming up their offers for the coal blocks from January 14 this year.

“The nominating party and challengers must submit their complete application documents at the DOE Records Management Division, and pay the corresponding application fee of P200,000 at the DOE Treasury Division on or before March 15, 2022,” the energy department stated.

Proponent firm Grand Thermal Power is a private entity accredited by the DOE and is engaged in trading of Indonesian coal as well as coal mined from Semirara Mining &Power Corporation in Antique.

The PCECP is a policy of the energy department which allows the nomination of blocks – both for indigenous petroleum and coal resources – and that could be done year-round by interested investors. The key requirement for unsolicited proposals under the contracting round is to subject it to a 60-day challenge.

Despite the coal moratorium enforced by the DOE for power applications, the agency indicated that harnessing local coal resources will still be beneficial as their eventual use could still be aligned for other industries.

Bulk of the country’s coal requirements are imported from foreign suppliers – mainly from Indonesia and Australia. As such, if there are export ban policies being enforced in these markets, the Philippine energy sector is often adversely impacted.

The dominant fuel for domestic power generation still relies heavily on coal; although there is a grand call for the country to already shift to cleaner technologies such as gas and renewable energy resources – mainly to support global goals of abating climate change risks.