Napocor mulls hybrid RE for off-grid electrification

MANILA, Philippines - State-run National Power Corp. (Napocor) is mulling the use of renewable energy (RE) hybrid systems in its missionary electrification program to lower the subsidy rates of the 290 Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) power plants across the country.

“The use of renewable energy is expected to lower the subsidy in missionary areas where there is high cost of fuel due to their remoteness and susceptibility to imminent weather,” Napocor president and CEO Ma. Gladys Cruz-Sta. Rita said in a statement yesterday.

“Though reduction in the Universal Charge for Missionary Electrification (UCME) may vary depending on the true cost of generation of the area and the true cost of generation of RE resource, we still see reduction in UCME requirement from solar and wind resources in missionary areas,” Sta. Rita said.

Under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), UCME is collected from end-users. The collections will be used for the electrification of remote communities or areas not connected to the main transmission grid.

The current UCME is at P0.15 per kilowatt hour (kwh).

Sta. Rita said Napocor has started its capacity development training on RE, focused on solar photovoltaic (PV)-diesel hybrid system, in partnership with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan.

The three-day RE capacity development training was also attended by representatives from the Department of Energy (DOE), National Electrification Administration (NEA), and the Renewable Energy Association of the Philippines (REAP).

Engineers from ITRI shared information about HOMER, the model software used for engineering and economic calculations.

On top of lowering the subsidy, Napocor hopes to extend the operating hours of its power plants in far-flung islands, especially during day time.

Napocor will be bidding out this year its first solar farm (120 kilowatt peak) to hybrid with diesel in Limasawa Island, Southern Leyte, Sta. Rita said.

“We are just finalizing arrangements on the land to be used for the solar farm,” she added.