THE Department of Energy (DOE) expects over 10,800 megawatts (MW) of additional capacity in the next few years should the committed power projects from 2023 to 2027 reach their commercial operations without delays.
Based on latest data released by the agency, coal facilities account for 3,685.4MW; renewable energy (RE), 3,580.97MW; natural gas, 3,500MW; and oil-based, 41.75MW.
The capacity from committed battery energy storage system (BESS) projects is expected to reach 2,084 MW.
The DOE defined committed power projects as those that have secured financial closing.
Of the total committed projects, 9,705.79MW of capacity and 1,504MW of BESS are to be built in Luzon. The same data indicates that natural gas takes up most of the committed power projects in Luzon, followed by coal with 3,280.4MW, and RE with 2,914.35MW.
For Visayas, the committed power projects will result in 562.97MW of additional capacity and 300MW from BESS. RE projects will bring an additional 408.3 MW to the grid, followed by coal with 135MW, and the remaining 19.67MW will come from oil-based power projects.
Mindanao could have 539.36MW of additional capacity from committed power projects and 280MW from BESS. Committed coal power projects will bring in 270MW of capacity. RE projects would
boost the grid’s capacity by 258.32MW more.
The DOE data stated that the period coverage of the committed power projects is from 2023 to 2027, including projects without firm commercial operations date.
The DOE is targeting a 35-percent RE share in the country’s power generation mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040 to boost RE capacity. The agency also expects increasing LNG investments to help augment the supply of power.
