October 22, 2019 | 12:33 am
SOLAR ENERGY could become the
dominant resource of prospective power plant projects in the coming years with
a 17.9% share, outpacing coal-fired facilities’ 17.15%, according to the latest
data from the Department of Energy (DoE).
This is the picture of the country’s
future new power plants if the project proposals — or what the department calls
“indicative” projects — reach financial closing or if they have forged bank financing
to proceed to construction.
Based on submissions to the DoE as
of August, renewable energy taken as a whole will account for the bulk at
20,876.4 megawatts (MW), or 32% of the total indicative projects at 63,383.6
MW.
Renewables consist of geothermal,
hydropower, biomass, solar and wind energy.
However, the DoE has been saying
that indicative projects may not turn into “committed” projects, or those that
are able to reach a financial close.
Still, the figures are a departure
from the country’s capacity mix, which as of June 2019 was dominated by coal
with a 39.2% share in terms of installed capacity and 41.2% in dependable
capacity. The combined share of renewables as of midyear was at 30.4% in terms
of installed capacity and 31% in dependable capacity.
DoE officials did not immediately
respond when asked about factors behind the bigger share of solar among
indicative projects, but they had pointed to new regulations boosting the
development of renewable energy.
Earlier this month, DoE Undersecretary
Felix William B. Fuentebella said the department removed the pre-development
phase for solar farms, cutting the completion time for such projects. “For as
long as you get a possessory right on top of a rooftop or in a water area or in
a hydro facility… build it,” Mr. Fuentebella explained. “You don’t have to own
it.”
“They have to submit a possessory
rights on the contract area that they are going to develop so they will start
with construction immediately,” said Marissa P. Cerezo, a director at the DoE’s
Renewable Energy Management Bureau.
The DoE data also show natural gas
accounting for the third-biggest share at 13.82%, outpacing hydropower’s 8.02%.
Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao
present indicative power plant projects that are dissimilar to each other. In
Mindanao, for instance, the proposed projects in the coming years will be
dominated by coal-fired facilities at 42.3% of the total, with hydroelectric
power and solar farms trailing with a share of 27.1% and 25.7%, respectively. —
Victor V. Saulon
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