The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has deferred the release of guidelines for the Green Energy Auction Allowance (GEA-All) and the Renewable Energy Payment Agreement (REPA) for the Green Energy Auction Program (GEAP).
An ERC notice dated Dec. 17, released on Dec. 23, stated that the GEA-All guidelines were temporarily postponed due to unresolved issues within the allocation program. The REPA for GEAP has also been delayed.
"Given the pending issues that need to be resolved, the matter has been deferred for further consideration," the ERC stated.
The commission had planned to collect GEA-All from on-grid consumers once renewable energy (RE) projects begin contributing to the grid. The proposed guidelines cover RE projects such as solar photovoltaic, biomass, wind, and run-of-river hydro. The ERC initially proposed collecting and disbursing funds from the program.
On-grid consumers receive power via transmission and distribution networks. Allowances from GEA-All would be managed by a transmission company.
Earlier this week, ERC Chairperson Monalisa C. Dimalanta said pricing details for geothermal, impounding, and pumped storage hydro technologies would be announced soon.
The goal is to secure 100 megawatts (MW) of geothermal energy and 4,375 MW of hydroelectric power.
Run-of-river hydro will have a separate release once the ERC and the Department of Energy (DOE) address and finalize outstanding issues.
In a separate development, the ERC has imposed a provisional cap of P25 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) on the reserve market offered to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). This cap will be reevaluated after one year of implementation.
This new cap is lower than the DOE's previous interim price cap of P32 per kWh, which applied to reserve market trading in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).