DOE issues draft rules on renewables standards

Manila Times.net

By Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo, Reporter

THE Department of Energy (DOE) has come up with the draft rules governing the minimum off-take for renewable energy sources by power distributors and suppliers.

Based on the draft rules for the renewable portfolio standard (RPS), all electric power industry participants would be mandated to maintain a minimum RE portfolio share of no less than a percent of their total supply.

“The DOE shall increase the RPS rate by at least one percent annually within the period of 10 years from effectivity of this circular,” the department said.

The minimum RPS rate would be determined by the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB), which is tasked by the RE Act of 2008 to oversee the implementation of incentives provided for by the law for green power projects.

One of the incentives set by the law, the RPS is a market-based policy that requires the mandated electric power industry participant to source an agreed portion of their energy supply from eligible renewable resources.

The incentive was designed to promote the development of renewable energy sources in the country, including biomass, biofuels, waste-to-energy, wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, ocean, hybrid systems, among others.

The DOE has set public consultations on the RPS targets starting this month.

The DOE has created a steering committee that will formulate and establish the framework governing the operation of the proposed renewable energy market, which shall be the venue of the issuance, trading and monitoring of renewable certificates.

Electric power industry participants may trade these certificates to comply with the RPS besides buying capacity from other suppliers.

“Several discussions had been undertaken already by DOE and PEMC on the regulatory framework of the [renewable energy market] including the study of different models and trading of certificates,” the DOE said in the 17th Electric Power Industry Reform Act report.

The PEMC is the Philippine Electricity Market Corp., the state-administered operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, a trading platform for electricity.

Short URL: http://www.manilatimes.net/?p=3906