Over 100 renewable energy projects in pipeline – DOE

MANILA, Philippines – Over 100 projects involving renewable energy (RE) are now in the pipeline following the passage of the Renewable Energy Act late last year, a Department of Energy (DOE) official said.

DOE assistant secretary Mario Marasigan told reporters over the weekend that the stream of projects and investment proposals reflect growing investors’ confidence on the renewable energy program of the government.

“Right after the passage of the law, we started receiving lots of inquiries and letters of intent. From that time to date, we can be proud that more than 100 projects have been listed in our office,” he said.

He said more than 80 hydropower projects, 30 wind power ventures and five biomass power plants are now in various stages of development.

Marasigan said by the end of the year, they expect to approve three wind power contracts in wind and another three hydropower ventures.

The DOE official said they are also closely evaluating the potential of ocean current as a RE project.

“The extent of our coastline and shorelines, when connected with one another, is even longer than those in the US, East and West Mumbai – meaning we have a bigger opportunity of developing our energy resources from ocean areas,” he said.

He added the DOE is currently in the process of evaluating three big hydropower facilities.

The three proposed plants – Bolanog-Batang, Pulangi and Agus located in Cagayan de Oro, Misamis and Lanao, respectively – are expected to generate between 150 megawatts and 300 MW of power.

He said Bolanog-Batang, Agus-3 and Pulangi-5 will be developed by a local group in joint venture with different partners. –Donnabelle L. Gatdula, Philippine Star