DOE sees 335MW power capacity from planned waste-to-energy auction

The Department of Energy (DOE) is expecting over 300 megawatts (MW) of additional power capacity to be generated from its plan to invite investors to pursue waste-to-energy (WTE) projects next year.

At a press briefing in Taguig City on Friday, DOE Assistant Secretary Mylene Capongcol announced that before the year ends the agency will issue the Terms of Reference for the WTE auction initiative.

"Based on the study that we have undertaken for the highly urbanized cities, we are looking at 335 MW of baseload power plants when we do the auction," Capongcol said. 

The DOE is planning to conduct the WTE auction round in January 2026, which would be specifically designed for WTE projects that will source their waste feedstock within Metro Manila and highly urbanized cities (HUCs) areas and with a target completion date by the fourth quarter of 2027.

Based on 2024 Solid Waste Generation data of the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), Metro Manila and HUCs could generate an estimated 6.12 million metric tons of municipal solid wastes which would be equivalent to 335 MW base load power capacity.

"We are confident that we will have a successful auction by next year," Capongcol said.

However, she said that "it is quite expensive to develop WTE."

"If you are going into thermal combustion, you would need around P350 to P430 million per megawatt and P400 to P440 million per megawatt of anaerobic digestion and combustion. Gasification would cost about P470 million per megawatt," the DOE official said.

The DOE described WTE as an emerging renewable energy technology.

The Energy Department is also expecting WTE development as one of the country's strategies to address solid waste management, serve as flood control mitigation, and provide additional clean energy.

The government's Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) is eyeing a 35% share of renewable energy in the country's power mix by 2030 and 50% by 2040. — VDV, GMA Integrated News