Alternergy keen on green energy auctions this year

ALTERNERGY Holdings Corp. may participate in the Department of Energy’s (DoE) green energy auction (GEA) program this year, the company’s president said.

“We are working with industry players, with our colleagues in the industry, together with the DoE, to make sure that all the policies are in place, the mechanics are very clear,” Alternergy President Gerry P. Magbanua said during a briefing last week.

Mr. Magbanua said the attractiveness of the third round of the green energy auction would depend on the price set by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

“We will see if GEA-3 would be more attractive to us depending on what prices will be made available. And of course, there’s always the possibility of entering into a bilateral agreement with a potential off taker,” he said.

The DoE is planning to stage two green energy auctions by the fourth quarter.

GEA-3 involves geothermal, pump-storage hydro, run-of-river hydro, and impounding hydro worth a total capacity of 4,399 megawatts (MW).

Meanwhile, GEA-4 will cover integrated renewable energy and energy storage systems and possibly liquefied natural gas.

Mr. Magbanua said that there was a “huge gap” in the subscribed capacities compared to what was offered during GEA-2 due to the price signals that the government has set.

“Hopefully that provides also feedback to the regulators that they have to change the pricing structure or the pricing levels at which they set the reserve price,” he said.

Alternergy is targeting to increase its renewable energy capacity to 500 MW by 2026.

For the fiscal year 2024, the company reported a consolidated net income of P130 million, nearly four times higher than the P38 million reported last year.

It attributed the increase to the surge in revenues, which grew by 60% to P275 million, particularly from its operating assets. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera