Three more solar projects seek FIT perks

MANILA, Philippines – Three more solar projects are joining the race for feed-in tariff (FIT) incentives ahead of the government-imposed deadline, adding at least 200 megawatts (MW) of supply to the country’s power grid.

Many solar players are participating in the race to qualify for FIT incentives, Energy Secretary Zenaida Monsada said on the sidelines of a forum yesterday.

“Solar is a fast moving renewable energy resource because we have a 500 MW installation target for FIT,” she said.

The FIT scheme is a set of incentives given to power developers for constructing the more expensive renewable energy (RE) plants.

For solar technology, developers were given until March 2016 to complete and produce power from their projects to be eligible to receive the new P8.69 per kilowatt-hour (kwh) FIT rate in the second round.

Monsada noted two power plants were inaugurated yesterday — the 50-MW Tarlac solar facility of PetroSolar Corp. and the 132.5-MW Negros solar farm of Soleq Holdings.

In another interview, Enfinity Philippines Renewable Sources Inc. business development director William Ruccius said the company has completed its 29-MW Davao del Sur solar plant.

These projects are being inspected by the DOE, which will then issue a certificate of endorsement (COE)-FIT eligibility for endorsement to the Energy REgulatory Commission (ERC).

To date, the agency has issued COE-FIT eligibility for seven projects with an aggregate capacity of 153.93 megawatts (MW).

Given the rate of solar project developments, the government is urged to expand the FIT system for into another round.

Enfinity said setting up a another round of FIT for solar will encourage more RE development.

“From a developer’s standpoint, there are many projects that are in different stages of development today that did not get into construction for this 500 MW FIT so there are many projects that would be put very quickly, get into construction for the next round of FIT both for wind and solar,” Ruccius said.

“Once you get the volume of products moving through the system with the supply chain going and the prices going down, everybody can benefit here in the Philippines from the lower prices,” he added.

But putting up another round for FIT solar will depend on the report of the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB), Monsada noted.

“We will not talk about extension and expansion until the March 15 deadline is finished, and until NREB completes its report,” she said.