Philippines Aims for First Natural Gas Auction by End of Year

The Department of Energy (DoE) is moving forward with plans to stage the country's first auction dedicated to natural gas. The auction, which is open to operators of existing and newly built natural gas facilities, aims to promote the use of mid-merit capacity to mitigate intermittency in the national grid.

According to Energy Secretary Sharon S. Garin, the auction is targeted to be awarded by the fourth quarter this year. The DoE has issued guidelines for the mid-merit natural gas capacity auction, positioning natural gas as a 'transition fuel' to support the shift to clean and sustainable energy.

The Philippine Natural Gas Industry Development Act was enacted last year, promoting the use of natural gas over imported varieties and other conventional energy sources. The DoE's Natural Gas Auction Committee has conducted on-site technical assessments of the country's two liquefied natural gas import and regasification complexes.