DOE issues draft rules on RPS

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) issued yesterday the draft rules for the much awaited Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), which mandates power industry players to produce and source a certain percentage of electricity from renewable energy (RE) sources.

The DOE published the draft circular posted on its website, which will cover all distribution utilities (DUs), licensed retail electricity suppliers (RES), local RES, suppliers of last resort (SOLR), generating companies and authorized distributors in economic zones.

Currently, the DOE is collating comments from industry stakeholders for the draft rules, OIC Undersecretary Mylene Capongcol said in a text message.

“We will discuss thereafter on the next steps,” she said.

As defined under the Renewable Energy Law of 2008, the RPS refers to a market-based policy that requires electricity suppliers to source an agreed portion of their energy supply from eligible RE sources.

These sources include RE technologies such as biomass, waste-to-energy technology, wind energy, solar energy, run-of-river hydropower sources, impounding hydropower sources, ocean energy, hybrid systems and geothermal energy.

Under the draft circular, the RE generation targets will be determined by the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB), the advisory body tasked with the effective implementation of RE projects in the country.

The targets will be reviewed by the DOE in coordination with NREB and in consultation with the stakeholders every two years, the circular stated.

A Renewable Energy Market (REM) will also be formed “to facilitate the issuance, commercialization and verify compliance with the annual RPS requirement,” the circular read.

Once REM is established, the DOE said a transition period of one year will be in place tp “ensure an orderly, efficient and effective imposition of the RPS rules.”