business mirror
TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2011 20:54 PAUL ANTHONY A. ISLA / REPORTER
Renewable-energy developers should just wait for the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to make a final determination on feed-in tariff rates and installation targets, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said late on Monday.“If they are confident of their technology and the technological advancements, then they should have no timeline to worry about,” Almendras told reporters in a briefing, reiterating that he prefers these projects to be done in chunks.
“Social and economic considerations have to be put in place. Now if you’re forcing a technology that is antiquated, which will soon be overrun by technological advancements, then you have a lot to worry about. The whole world has learned from the experience of the developed countries that have implemented it and are now cutting back in their implementations,” Almendras said.
On Monday, the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) proposed to the ERC feed-in tariff rates for solar power, ocean power, wind power, biomass and hydropower amounting to P17.95 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), P17.65/kWh, P10.37/kWh, P7/kWh, and P6.15/kWh, respectively.
The NREB said it proposed installation targets totaling 830 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy—250 MW will come from hydropower projects, another 250 MW from biomass power projects, 220 MW from wind, and 100 MW each from solar and ocean technologies.
The NREB also proposed an additional universal levy of P12.57/kWh, which will be charged to all power consumers connected to the grid if renewable energy developers are able to meet their installation targets and if the P4.50/kWH average generation cost will not increase over the span of three years due to an increase in fuel prices.
For Tetchi Cruz-Capellan, executive director of the Philippine Solar Power Alliance said the proposed feed-in tariff rates are already a good start.
“However, we encourage the government to increase the target so renewable energy developers can achieve the NREB’s proposed rates,” she said in a phone interview on Tuesday, pointing out that economies of scale will lower prices.
Capellan made it clear that they do not contest the proposed rates, only the installation targets set by the NREB.
For solar power projects, for instance, she said the NREB computed its rates on the assumption that the global solar panel prices will drop.
“Instead of this assumption, perhaps they could instead consider increasing the installation targets to make it feasible for solar panel suppliers to also reduce their costs,” she said.
Renewable energy developers have earlier appealed to the NREB to consider increasing its installation targets to encourage foreign and local investors to look into investing capital into the country’s renewable energy sector.
“The 100-MW installation target for solar-power projects proposed by NREB, for instance, is very small and discouraging for any foreign investor to consider investing in the country,” Cruz has said.
“The 100-MW installation target for solar-power projects proposed by NREB, for instance, is very small and discouraging for any foreign investor to consider investing in the country,” Cruz has said.
In Photo: A fuel attendant at a gas station in Santiago City refi lls a motorcycle tank on Tuesday. (Leonardo Perante II)
No comments:
Post a Comment