MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) is re-validating the 800 megawatt (MW) solar capacity in the race to qualify for incentives in the second round of feed-in tariff (FIT) for solar.
There are around 800 MW of solar capacity vying for FIT incentives for the remaining slots in the 450-MW installation target for the second round, DOE Secretary Zenaida Monsada said.
Most of these projects were completed just days ahead of the March 15 deadline.
“We made validations, and we re-validated the projects again because there were instances that the solar plant ran for three days but bogged down on the fourth day,” Mosada said.
The DOE chief said she was now awaiting the report for solar FIT.
So far, the DOE has issued the certificate of eligibility (COE) for FIT to 292 MW of solar capacity out of the total 500 MW, including the first round.
For solar, the DOE has required facilities to run and continuously dispatch the committed capacity to the grid to qualify for FIT.
FIT is a set of incentives given to power developers to invest in the more expensive RE sector.
Solar developers that will be completing and producing power from their projects before the March 15 deadline will be eligible to receive the new P8.69 per kilowatt hour (kW) FIT rate, among other incentives.
The re-validation will ensure grid stability when these solar power plants are dispatched, Monsada said.
“What we want to clarify is when the 500 MW installation target was filled, on or before the March 15 deadline,” she said.
While the report has yet to be filed, Monsada noted those facilities that were visited by President Aquino would not necessarily be qualified for FIT.
She was referring to the 59-MW solar power plant of AboitizPower subsidiary San Carlos Sun Power Inc. (SacaSun), which was inaugurated by President Aquino earlier this month.