ERC clears FIT incentives for PetroSolar’s Tarlac project

MANILA, Philippines - PetroSolar Corp. has been cleared to receive feed-in-tariff (FIT) incentives for its first solar facility in Tarlac.

In a statement yesterday, PetroSolar said the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) released on Wednesday the provisional approval to operate as a feed-in-tariff eligible power plant (PAO-FIT) for its 50-megawatt (MW) Tarlac solar plant.

The firm said the PAO-FIT release followed the ERC’s earlier approval of the same during its March 30 deliberations.  

“The PAO-FIT approval effectively guarantees the FIT payment to PetroSolar and the financial viability of our investment,” PetroEnergy Resources Corp. (PERC) president Milagros Reyes said.

“Our team’s ability to secure this critical regulatory approval mirrors the focus and dedication we put in completing the plant’s physical infrastructure in 4.5 months from the start of foundation works, a record in solar farm construction not just in the Philippines but in Southeast Asia,” she said.

FIT is a set of incentives given to power developers to invest in the more expensive RE sector.

In the second round of FIT for solar, developers were given until March 15 to complete and produce power from their projects to be eligible to receive the new P8.69 per kilowatt-hour (kwh) FIT rate.

The current round has an installation capacity of 500 MW.

“With this ERC approval and the signing and execution last April 6 of our renewable energy payment agreement (REPA) with the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo), PetroSolar effectively secures our slot in the 500 MW solar FIT allocation,” PetroGreen Energy Corp. (PGEC) vice president and COO F.G. Delfin said.

“This assures our company and our lenders of revenue from FIT payment of P8.69/kwh from 2016 to 2036. In the meantime, we shall submit this PAO-FIT to Transco for the determination of our REPA’s effective date,” he said.