The Philippines is charging forward in its renewable energy transition with the country’s Department of Energy ( DoE ) announcing that it will release the terms of reference for the fourth round of its Green Energy Auction ( GEA-4 ) within the month.

The GEA-4, the DoE says in a statement released late last week, will for the first time include integrated renewable energy and energy storage systems, allowing solar power projects to be paired with battery energy storage systems ( BESS ) to support the power grid.

“The DoE will release the GEA-4 terms of reference within February,” the DoE adds. “The terms will outline specific provisions and procedures for the auction process, covering technical, financial, and commercial aspects. It will also incorporate insights and lessons learned from previous auction rounds.”

Interested participants, the DoE notes, should look out for the draft notice of auction, terms of reference and the schedule of stakeholder dialogue, which will all be posted on the department’s website.

The Philippine government’s GEA programme is a key initiative in the country’s efforts to expand renewable energy capacity and achieve a 35% share of renewables in the national energy mix by 2030. The programme hopes to provide energy developers with opportunities to secure contracts that support the growth of the country’s sustainable energy production.

At the same time, the DoE is also moving forward with the third auction round ( GEA-3 ), which includes bidding for geothermal and hydropower projects.

In a separate issuance, the DoE announced that it has identified 12 qualified bidders for the third round of the Green Energy Auction ( GEA-3 ), set to be held within the week.

Among the qualified bidders for the geothermal contracts include Maibarara Geothermal, Energy Development, a unit of Lopez conglomerate-owned First Gen, and Bac-Man Geothermal.

Meanwhile, Pan Pacific Renewable Power Phils, Pulangi Hydro Power and United Hydro Power Builders, the department points out, have qualified to bid on impounding hydro, while seven companies, including Ahunan Power, COHECO Badeo, First Gen Hydro Power, Olympia Violago Water and Power, Pan Pacific, Repower Energy Development and San Roque Hydropower, have qualified on pumped-storage hydro.

The government will auction off 100 megawatts ( MW ) of geothermal, 300MW of impounding hydro and 4,250MW of pumped-storage hydro, totalling 4.65 gigawatts.

Since its launch in 2022, the GEA programme has resulted in contracts for nearly 5,500MW of renewable energy capacity. The DoE plans to hold two more auctions in 2025 – GEA-4 focusing on integrated renewable energy and energy storage systems and GEA-5 focusing on offshore wind power.