THE Department of Energy (DoE) said on Tuesday that the Smart and Green Grid Plan (SGGP), which will establish policy and mechanisms for timely transmission of project implementation and efficient system operation, is due for completion in September.
“The SGGP started in September 2023 and is scheduled for completion this year,” Energy Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara said at the Conference on German Technologies for Renewable Energy Integration in the Philippines.
“The SGGP aims to enable the seamless integration of large-scale renewable energy (RE), including up to 50 gigawatts of offshore wind and 4.8 gigawatts of nuclear by 2050,” she added.
The SGGP is being developed by the DoE in collaboration with the US Agency for International Development Energy Security Project, the University of the Philippines, and TRANSCO.
It also seeks to enhance grid reliability and resilience and to connect more remote RE sources to key demand centers by developing new transmission corridors and subsea cables.
“Meanwhile, SGGP Phase 2 focuses on developing a transmission timeline to support large-scale RE integration, prioritizing offshore wind and other high-capacity sources,” she said.
“It aims to modernize the grid to meet the 2050 peak demand, enable over 50% RE share by 2040, and enhance energy security and affordability,” she added.
She said the government views transmission as a major challenge in the energy sector.
“We have awarded 1,400 service contracts, but these are located in places where there is no transmission. So, I would like to shift the way we do business to ‘these are the locations of the transmission capacities; this is where you should build,’” she said.
“We are in catch-up mode right now on transmission. But I hope that five years down the road, it will be the reverse,” she added.
She said the goal is for the DoE to revise its approach to future auctions by first identifying the areas to build in and determining how much capacity is needed based on the availability of transmission.
She said with the SGGP, the DoE has regained the ability to do transmission planning, which has primarily been left to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).
“Now, with the SGGP that is coming out this year, that will be the main plan, and the transmission development plan will be something like the implementation plan,” she added.
She said she spoke with the State Grid Corp. of China earlier this month to help the NGCP in determining where, when, and how much battery capacity is needed in various parts of the grid.
“While we are waiting for the pumped storage hydro, which will come in 2029 or 2030 … and while all the variable renewable energy sources are being developed leading up to 2030, we are going to need batteries to help,” she said.
Meanwhile, she said that the DoE has awarded over 6,000 megawatts under the department’s Green Energy Auction (GEA) 3, which initially offered 4,650 megawatts.
“Today is the deadline for them to confirm their award. So far, I have received 2,250 megawatts. So by the end of the day, I hope that we will receive all 6,000 megawatts,” she added.
She said that the DoE is offering 10,000 megawatts under GEA-4 and 3,300 megawatts under GEA-5.
“The total is about 19,000 megawatts. So, this is a bountiful year for RE, and we are going to start having problems balancing the grid if we do not act now,” she added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile