The country would need 52.83 gigawatts of renewable energy (RE) capacity by 2040 after the Department of Energy (DOE) hiked the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to 2.52 percent, an energy official said.

During the Philippine Electric Power Industry Forum 2024 at the Iloilo Convention Center Friday, DOE Assistant Secretary Mylene Capongcol said the required RE capacity will be equivalent to 175 terawatt hours of RE generation.

Capongcol said the required RE capacity in 2040 under the increased RPS is seven times the current level of 8.26 GW.

DOE’s Department Circular No. 2022-09-0030 signed by Secretary Raphael Lotilla in September 2022 directed utility companies to increase the mandated minimum portion of energy from renewable sources from 1 percent to 2.52 percent in 2023.

This policy aligns with the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) to achieve the country’s goal of higher RE shares to the energy mix by 2040 to 50 percent.

In her presentation, Capongcol said DOE expects that bulk of the RE capacity by 2040 will come from solar technology at 27.16 GW, followed by wind at 16.65 GW, hydro at 6.15 GW, geothermal at 2.5 GW, and 364 megawatts from biomass.

“As of January 2024, we were able to award 1,282 contracts with an equivalent potential capacity of 130.3 gigawatts, and out of these we have already constructed and installed, some of them operationalized around 6 gigawatts of renewable energy,” she added.

The DOE official mentioned that 71 percent of the 1,282 awarded RE contracts are solar and hydro power projects, majority, or more than 60 percent, of the potential capacity will come from offshore wind projects.

Capongcol said as of March 25, the agency has issued 92 offshore wind contracts with a potential capacity of 65.05 GW. (PNA)