Investors in the renewable energy (RE) sector are intensifying their call on the inclusion of hybrid solar and energy storage in the next round of green energy auction (GEA) by the Department of Energy (DOE).

The RE investors said the combination of hybrid solar and energy storage is the "silver bullet" that will help the country advance into the clean energy intersection.

According to ACEN President and CEO Eric T. Francia, “solar-storage hybrid should ideally be included in the next GEA as this will help address grid constraints, as well as encourage distribution utilities to procure GEA capacity because it enhances the reliability of GEA as a source of supply.”

GEA is a bidding system being administered by the DOE for the award of 20-year power supply agreements (PSAs) underpinning RE investments that will concretize the country’s energy transition agenda.

Francia noted that in the solar-battery hybrid offer, a separate pricing will be enforced by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) with the cost parameters factored into the solar-energy storage tandem for mid-merit capacity previously tendered by power utility giant Manila Electric Company.

Industry players are proposing that the ideal starting capacity could be up to 1,000 megawatts of solar and energy storage installations, considerably bigger than the 850MW awarded by Meralco, which warranted 3,500 megawatts of solar photovoltaic (PV) deployments and 4,500 megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy storage.

As emphasized, having energy storage in the mix will guarantee that excess electricity generated during sun-drenched hours of the day can be stored for later dispatch – either when the sun is not shining or when there is surge in energy demand, hence, fixing the intermittent generation dilemma of solar.

SunAsia Energy President Theresa Cruz-Capellan, who also is the chairperson of the Philippine Solar and Storage Energy Alliance (PSSEA), primarily sets pitch for hybrid technology that will lean on floating solar plus energy storage, as this is a development platform that will lessen competition on the use of land resources with that of food production.

“The tariff on floating solar is a good start as it already differentiates the economics with land-based. But for the country to harness the potential of the lake, which is located at the back door of the Metro Manila and Laguna, the GEAR (green energy auction reserve) price for floating solar has not yet captured the true cost of this emerging technology,” she stressed.

Capellan stated “the awarding of the lease contract in Laguna Lake unlocks the potential of the Laguna Lake…using the lake surface for solar energy provides a clear pathway in realizing the energy security and decarbonization goals of the country.”

Industry players indicated that the low turnout of the last RE auction had been mainly due to the low GEAR prices set by the ERC. Hence, they are batting for upward adjustments in the forthcoming batch of clean energy capacity tendering.

Francia similarly specified that for large-scale installations, these may come off expensive in the short-term, “but improves over time as it gets further scale.”

He further opined that “to reach our renewable energy goals, the country needs large scale projects and the upfront costs need to be reflected in the tariff setting.”

Cost-wise, Francia conveyed that the best comparison for hybrid solar-storage technology coupling shall be that of gas, which is also often used as the flexible or mid-merit capacity that can immediately address capacity fluctuations in the system, primarily in the integration of massive RE capacities in power grid networks.

“At the end of the day, solar storage hybrid should be compared to the alternative which is gas. Solar storage, on the other hand, has mostly fixed cost and harnesses indigenous and clean energy. This ensures energy security and protects customers from price volatility,” he asserted.