NexGen eyes RE contracts from terminated gov’t deals

LISTED NexGen Energy Corp. is looking to pursue renewable energy (RE) service contracts from the government’s nearly 18-gigawatt (GW) pool of terminated deals.

“The move of the Department of Energy (DoE) to free up this capacity is very exciting for us as well. That means there’s a lot more capacity that’s available for developers, serious developers to bid to those capacities for GEA (green energy auction). I’m actually looking forward to that,” NexGen Vice-President for Operations Angela B. Sanchez told reporters last week.

She said the government’s decision to allow affidavits of possessory rights, rather than firm tenurial rights, for GEA-winning projects created uncertainty over whether awarded projects would actually move forward.

“That itself, you actually raise the question whether these projects are really happening if it’s still an affidavit. Us, who are very serious in the development, we’re very serious in delivering the projects, we started questioning why all of a sudden this is acceptable when in fact we have to comply with the tenurial rights before,” she said.

The DoE reported that terminated and relinquished contracts over the last two years totaled 163, equivalent to nearly 18 GW of potential capacity.

These contracts cover various renewable energy technologies, including solar, hydropower, wind, geothermal, and biomass.

NexGen is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dexter Tiu’s Pure Energy Holdings Corp., which has a development pipeline totaling over 3.5 GW of wind and solar projects.

For 2026, Ms. Sanchez said the company is preparing for the energization of two solar projects in Luzon and Mindanao with a combined capacity of 24 megawatts.

“Most of the projects of our group are on far-flung areas, hydropower in far-flung areas. We are not just a business. Effectively, we are contributing to rural electrification when we are interconnected or embedded to the grid of the distribution utility,” she said.

In the wind sector, NexGen currently holds 15 service contracts and is preparing to install three meteorological masts to assess wind conditions and confirm the sites’ viability for power generation.

Ms. Sanchez said the company has yet to set a specific target for capacity, focusing instead on delivering its committed projects.

“What we are very focused on is to really move the projects forward rather than forecasting them and may not be able to hit it. So, our focus is to really just keep moving and delivering what’s required from us. Mas nakatuon kami doon sa (we are more focused on) operating those projects,” she said. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera