Local group, German institution to promote solar power in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Local-based solar developers have joined forces with their counterpart in Germany to promote further the utilization of solar power in the Philippines.

Recently, the Philippine Solar Power Alliance (PSPA) signed an agreement with the Berlin-based Renewable Energy Academy (RENAC) to build local capacity among managers and engineers who will be part of the upcoming installation of utility-scale solar power plants as soon as the feed-in tariff are released by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

Early next month, about 40 trainees from the local and international companies that have applied for service contracts from the Department of Energy will start the capacity building efforts.

They are comprised by the Mindanao-based Cepalco, Philippine New Energy of the Ayala group, Europe-based Enfinity, Transnational Renewable Energy Development Group (TDG), First Philec Solar Solutions (FPSS), Korean-based Youil Renewable Energy Corp., Sanyo of Japan, Sunpower, and Team Energy, a major power producer in the Philippines.

According to the PSPA, “the deployment of solar plants estimated at roughly 430MW is expected to jumpstart the solar industry in the next three years. Since the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) anticipates the FIT issuance in the second semester of this year, the seminar is being scheduled early to prepare the manpower needs of the industry.”

PSPA president Tetchi Capellan announced that “this seminar will be the first of a series to be held in-country in partnership with RENAC.”

Capellan said “it is geared towards providing an appreciation of PV solar, the basic components of the system, how it works, what the economics of PV solar is, and how to develop projects and seek financing for it.”

“The training was planned in partnership with a German training institution so the Philippines can draw from the vast and profound expertise of the German masters. Their proficiency will help build the foundation of the PV solar industry in the country and upgrade the existing technical and managerial qualification of the practitioners in the renewable energy sector,” Capellan said.

In the Southeast Asian region, the Philippines will be the first to hold the Renac-customized PV Solar seminar and workshop. The Solar Alliance hopes to develop the country as a regional technology hub for PV solar and the critical component of this is manpower development. 

According to PSPA, “ the alliance hopes to regularly offer the seminar to address the anticipated manpower demand by industry particularly experts in policy-making, project development, RE financial analysis, plant design and installation.”