WEDNESDAY, 30 MARCH 2011 21:58
THE determination of the feed-in tariff (FIT) levels will not be a problem as far as finding the right price is concerned, but even so, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said on Wednesday, “It seems it will be difficult to meet the deadline [to submit the proposed FIT levels this month’s end] owing to the grid impact study being conducted by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines [NGCP].”
He pointed out the problem will be the target cap, which will be directly influenced by the NGCP grid impact study. “We are actually pushing for a March 31 deadline, but the Chinese consultants of NGCP said it was impossible for the grid impact study to be done by month’s end and that it will be feasible for it to be done by mid or end-April,” he added.
The grid impact study, according to the energy chief, will tell them how much of each technology can be absorbed into the grid without disrupting the existing system.
Almendras cited China’s experience where they had a few thousand megawatts of wind power that could not be put into the grid because of the problems it naturally entails.
In the Philippines there is a need to thrash out how much renewable energy can be absorbed into the grid in its present state, or in the next two-to-three year period, because that’s the framing of the feed-in tariff.
Almendras said some technologies are less intermittent. “The fluctuations or intermittencies in the supply of renewable-energy sources could create havoc on the grid in terms of pricing. Some technologies will be very grid-sensitive, while the others will not be.
Another issue to be addressed, Almendras said, is the location where the renewable-energy power plants can be built. The grid impact study could indicate which areas prefer certain renewable-energy technologies.
“What we’re going to do, we’re going to try to move as fast as we can. We’re not saying we’re going to move to the end of April. Maybe a week or two-week delay in the submission can be accommodated for the promises we made for the midyear decision for the ERC,” he said.
Pete Maniego, NREB chairman, confirmed that NGCP requested for an extension up to end-April to submit the grid impact study. He said the DOE needs this study to determine installation targets which must be included in the FIT petition.
Maniego said his agency approved NGCP’s request and wrote the ERC to extend the FIT petition submission deadline to May 16. --P.A. Isla
No comments:
Post a Comment