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MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) is pushing for the adoption of a gradual and calibrated approach in the introduction of renewable energy (RE) to the country’s power mix.
In a position paper submitted to the Department of Energy (DOE), the PCCI had expressed serious concern on the impact the introduction of RE will have on the country’s already high power rates.
Hydroelectric power plants accounted for the bulk or 3,291 MW of the country’s total power need followed by geothermal with 64 MW and other RE sources with 34 percent.
The challenge, the PCCI said is to determine how much more of RE plants the country needs or should install to meet the goal of power security or self sufficiency and competitiveness.
“The technology for solar, wind and ocean power and even biomass are still in early development stages; the energy produced from these will be a multiple of the current average grid rate of P4.50/kWh. What we need now are base load plants... and with some sense of urgency,” Francis Chua, PCCI president said.
The FiT-All, a sort of subsidy for RE producers that will be pass-through to all end-users, is contingent upon the RE installation targets and the FiT rates, the group said. The installation target sets the percentage generation from eligible RE sources that shall be injected into the country’s power mix.
The PCCI is endorsing the locational approach as the next step. This approach provides for the identification of specific strategic locations where RE sources can best be used and developed. From here, the minimum aggregate capacity per location is then determined and the required technology development and reporting requirements for the identified technology/s are specified.
“This approach allows for better monitoring of the contribution and progress of each RE source, which in turn forms the basis for the rates that warrant their contribution and benefit to the system,” Chua said.
In a position paper submitted to the Department of Energy (DOE), the PCCI had expressed serious concern on the impact the introduction of RE will have on the country’s already high power rates.
Hydroelectric power plants accounted for the bulk or 3,291 MW of the country’s total power need followed by geothermal with 64 MW and other RE sources with 34 percent.
The challenge, the PCCI said is to determine how much more of RE plants the country needs or should install to meet the goal of power security or self sufficiency and competitiveness.
“The technology for solar, wind and ocean power and even biomass are still in early development stages; the energy produced from these will be a multiple of the current average grid rate of P4.50/kWh. What we need now are base load plants... and with some sense of urgency,” Francis Chua, PCCI president said.
The FiT-All, a sort of subsidy for RE producers that will be pass-through to all end-users, is contingent upon the RE installation targets and the FiT rates, the group said. The installation target sets the percentage generation from eligible RE sources that shall be injected into the country’s power mix.
The PCCI is endorsing the locational approach as the next step. This approach provides for the identification of specific strategic locations where RE sources can best be used and developed. From here, the minimum aggregate capacity per location is then determined and the required technology development and reporting requirements for the identified technology/s are specified.
“This approach allows for better monitoring of the contribution and progress of each RE source, which in turn forms the basis for the rates that warrant their contribution and benefit to the system,” Chua said.
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