Monday, April 25, 2016

‘Waiting game’ drags for FIT qualified solar projects



by Myrna Velasco April 22, 2016

There have been growing unease among industry players as the ‘waiting game’ on the list announcement of the solar projects qualifying for feed-in-tariff (FIT) incentives drags out.
The second wave race for the P8.69 per kilowatt hour FIT-underpinned installations had been oversubscribed – with project completions reaching about 900 megawatts in installed capacity equivalent.
Energy Secretary Zenaida Y. Monsada, in a previous briefing with the media, has indicated that they would need more time to re-validate the completed projects before firming up the roll of the FIT-qualified installations.
It will be the Department of Energy (DOE) that will be issuing a solar project’s certificate of endorsement (COE) for FIT – and this will also be used subsequently by the developer to apply for a FIT certificate of compliance (FIT-COC) with the Energy Regulatory Commission.
According to the ERC, at least 14 solar projects already make up the list with endorsements for FIT, as forwarded to them by the DOE.
It was explained that those already given with certificates of endorsement by the energy department involve about 10 project developers.
It had been qualified though that this already included the first and second wave races for solar FITs of P9.63 per kWh and P8.69 per kWh.
“Most of the 14 projects have already been granted COCs which would entitle them to the FIT rate,” the regulatory body has noted.
It has to be noted that the first awardees of FIT at P9.63 per kWh include the developments of San Carlos Solar Energy, Inc., and that of Majestics Energy Corporation.
For the second batch, the developers hinted to have cornered the first COEs for FIT include the projects of PetroSolar Corporation, YH Green Energy and Solar Philippines.
Others have yet to be firmed up in the final list, including the biggest developments in the solar-concentrated domain of Negros Occidental.

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