Renewable energy projects on hold

MANILA, Philippines - Renewable energy (RE) developments may take a backseat in the plans of power developers for a while as the Department of Energy (DOE) said it would have to wait for the recommendation of the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) on the feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme and the energy policy mix to determine the direction of the RE sector.

Energy Secretary Zenaida Monsada said future developments in the RE sector would be based on the policies that would be recommended by NREB, the advisory body tasked with the effective implementation of RE projects in the country, as stated under the RE Law.

“First, we have to see the recommendation of NREB. We need to balance the promotion of RE with power rates, as well as our COP (Committee of Parties) 21 contribution,” she said.

So far, the NREB has finished its strategic planning workshop although its latest proposal has yet to be received by the DOE.

“They still have to fine-tune their list of recommendations under the RE roadmap and what to do with promoting further the 30 percent minimum RE share as ordered under our circular,” Monsada said.

In June 2015, the DOE issued a circular mandating a 30 percent installed capacity for RE under the new fuel policy mix. Currently, RE capacity is at 28 percent.

Meanwhile, under the FIT scheme, a set of incentives are given to power developers for investing in the more expensive RE projects.

Initially, renewable energy companies are entitled to FIT rates for other RE sources under the FIT system: P8.53 per kilowatt-hour (kwh) for 200 megawatts (MW) of wind power production; P9.68 per kwh for 50 MW of solar power; P5.90 per kwh for 250-MW run-of-river hydroelectric power and P6.63 per kwh for 250-MW of biomass power.

So far, allocations under wind and solar technology have been breached and cleared for another round.

In the second round, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has approved lower rates for both technologies, P7.40 per kwh for another 200-MW of wind power production and P8.69 per kwh for 500-MW of solar power.

For wind, the power regulator limited the entitlement of FIT rate for the second round to the 54-MW San Lorenzo project of Trans-Asia Renewable Energy Corp., the 36-MW Nabas wind energy project of PetroWind Energy Inc. and the 54-MW Pilila wind project of Alternergy Wind One Corp.

On the other hand, there are 13 solar-powered projects with a total of 360.41 MW in capacity in line to receive FIT incentives under the second round of solar FIT allocation.

“Currently, based on the list that will be inspected, the solar FIT allocation is not yet fully subscribed but there are still developers racing to meet the deadline,” Monsada said.

Solar developers have only until mid-March to qualify for incentives under the FIT scheme for solar.