Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) announced on July 28 the launch of the country's Renewable Energy Market (REM), a marketplace for trading Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
During the REM interim commercial operations, participants are expected to engage in activities related to the validation and confirmation of the RECs they obtained. Trading of RECs is yet to open and financial transactions are not involved during the interim period due to the pending of the approval of the REC Price Cap.
The REM interim commercial operations are scheduled to begin on August 26. It is a triangular partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
“The REM will incentivize the harnessing of our wealth of natural resources, bringing in additional, more sustainable sources of electricity. We welcome this diversification that will safeguard our energy supply security,” said PEMC President Leonido J. Pulido III.
According to Section 8 of the RE Act, PEMC is the organization designated to conduct the RE Registrar (RER) functions, which shall create a Renewable Energy Registrar and issue, maintain, and verify RECs in accordance with energy produced by qualified RE facilities. These certificates will be utilized for meeting the requirements of the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS).
In early 2020, PEMC started the registration process for REM participants and 96% of the applications have been processed and authorized since then. PEMC Head of Corporate Planning and Communications Clares Loren Jalocon said that despite the pandemic, the response to the REM has been active and the number of participants is expected to reach 281 by July 2022, with 98% of which have submitted their application expressing their interest in participate.
After REM participants are registered, they can access to the Philippine Renewable Energy Market System (PREMS), which manages major market functions such as registration, REC calculation, issuance, and transfer, as well as reportorial requirements to the DOE on RPS compliances of the Mandated Participants.
