Business World Online
by Lenie Lectura - July 28, 2015
SOLAR power provider Enfinity Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd. said on Tuesday that solar-hybrid solutions will address the lack of power in off-grid areas, including those that are under the small power utilities group (SPUG) of the National Power Corp. (Napocor).
William Ruccius, business development director of Enfinity, said there is a vast potential for solar-hybrid deployment along SPUG areas. “Napocor has 280 SPUG power plants. They range in size from 0.04 megawatt [MW] to about 10 MW,” he said.
These off-grid areas are currently being serviced with their electricity needs via diesel-fired power- generating facilities, which, Ruccius said, tend to be more expensive.
He said that the true cost of generation rate in these areas typically ranges from P14 per kilowatt-hour to P45 per kWh, and electricity is just being made available to them from eight to 16 hours a day.
Part of the electricity cost being paid by consumers in SPUG areas is covered by subsidies, but when cheaper alternatives, such as hybrids, will be provided, that level of subsidy may also be reduced.
However, Ruccius stressed that there are still some commercial and market risk issues that need to be addressed in the regulatory and policy frameworks of the industry before hybrid solutions can become viable in these areas.
He particularly cited the creditworthiness predicament of many electric cooperatives, including those that have been catering to the service needs of the SPUG areas.
“The problem here is that many electric cooperatives are not creditworthy and it is difficult to get paid. The QTP [qualifying third party] provides the generation and also takes over the distribution function, so it collects the money and pays itself,” he said, while pointing out that financing is the biggest challenge if appropriate framework is not in place. source
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