Seipi: Solar energy to solve high power rates in Luzon

Business Mirror

09 Feb 2014 

 

Written by Catherine Elizamarie N. Pillas

THE electronics industry renewed its call for the implementation of the grid connectivity and net-metering rules for solar energy in the Luzon region to ease the burden of manufacturers and exporters on high power rates.

Semiconductors and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (Seipi) President Dan C. Lachica said the use of renewable energy, specifically solar power, is still a possible solution to the perennial problem of high power costs in the country.

“The cheapest source of power back in the day is solar. One of the reasons it’s not being used widely is because the net metering and grid connectivity has not been fully implemented in Luzon but it is being done in the Visayas and Mindanao. That is one of the things our technical working group is pushing for,” Lachica said.

He said solar energy may prove to be a reliable power supply if steps are taken to implement the technology to harness solar power.

“There’s five-and-a-half to six hours of sunlight; it’s more predictable and stable than wind,” Lachica said.

Net metering, done through a grid-connectivity system to be installed in one’s home, allows households and business establishments with small renewable-energy facilities, such as a solar panel, to get credit for any surplus energy they supply to the grid.

A grid-connectivity system converts the electricity produced by solar panels into a form that can be utilized by the household.

If a system is producing more power than is being consumed, the surplus is fed into the main power grid.

Lachica assures that while initial investments are high, the cost can be recovered over the years.

This proposal comes amid rising electricity costs, which is a perennial problem faced by the manufacturing industry, whose revival is being pushed by the government.

While acknowledging that small power companies are setting up and may help alleviate the high power costs, power plants take at least three years to set up.

To that end, Lachica disclosed that Seipi is asking the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) to continue pursuing its proposal to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to provide tax incentives to retail electricity suppliers (RES) who supply power to Peza locators who are mostly manufacturers.

“For now the proposal is still with the ERC, and we are pushing for Peza to pursue that,” Lachica said.

According to Lachica, Peza’s proposal is still pending with the ERC and he hopes action will be undertaken soon.

RES are power firms that supply power through the open-access regime, or the Retail Competition and Open Access, which allows large electricity-consuming firms to choose their own power suppliers.   source

Catherine Elizamarie N. Pillas