DOE urged to address additional solar capacity

April 18, 2016 (updated)

http://www.mb.com.ph/pspa-says-govt-needs-to-address-additional-solar-capacity/

COMBINED WIND AND SOLAR FARMS – Photo shows the 4.1-megawatt (MW) solar farm installed under the 150-MW wind farm in Burgos, Ilocos Norte is the first of its kind combination of two renewable energy sources all over the world that simultaneously operate to generate power supply. (MF File Photo by Freddie G. Lazaro)

To help address tightness in power supply, the Philippine Solar Power Solar Alliance (PSPA) is urging the government to find a win-win solution in addressing the 600 megawatt addition of solar capacity to the 2^nd contracting round of the Solar FiT Program.

In a statement, Tetchi Cruz-Capellan, PSPA president, said that  the Department of Energy (DOE) should encourage policymakers in finding a common ground to recognize solar companies that reached 80 percent electro-mechanical completion and delivered electricity to the grid after the 750Mw solar installation

“The industry remains thankful to government’s commitment to solar energy specifically the decision of former Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla in promoting 500Mw of solar to avert any possible brownouts in the summer of 2016,” Capellan said.

Capellan said there is already an admission from national authorities and utility distribution companies on the tightness of supply.

“Undeniably, the contribution of 750Mw solar energy in the daytime when demand is at its peak, cannot be ignored  - the 750Mw solar provided more security to the grid, averted a possible supply shortage as well as delivered economic benefits to the consumers and the rural economy,” Capellan said.

“Fuel prices have bottomed out and soon, we will see the cost of gas jumping upwards again,” she added.

The former Agriculture Undersecretary drew similarity to the present crisis faced by government in the food sector saying “that longterm planning and immediate action forestall possible crises in the future.”

Sharing the independent study conducted by The Lantau Group (TLG), the experts’ report revealed a gradual increase in oil prices to $60/bbl by 2018, and $100/bbl in 2020 using Brent data.  According to the study, building solar power plants to as much as 2Gw up to 2018, reduces fuel costs, generates savings to as much as 8 percent, and effectively cuts consumers’ burden from high electricity rates in the medium term.

“Such findings make a compelling case for government to accept all the 750Mw combined capacity of solar power plants and provide incentives to those that delivered solar energy,” Capellan added.

In 2014, the Department of Energy called the participation of solar companies.  Applying a build-first scheme,  close to fifty (50) companies, with a combined capacity of 2Gw, were granted Solar Service Contracts so they can develop and build solar power plants.

In the latest industry count, more than twenty (20) projects, with varying sizes, recorded an installed capacity of over 700Mw. All these projects reached eighty (80) percent electro-mechanical completion.

Billions of private capital were spent to build these clean energy infrastructure. The combined investments helped improve the rural economy and increase employment and incomes. Capellan reported, “solar plants employed as much as 3,000 people per site for the  installation work. As a labor-intensive construction activity, the employment opportunities helped rural communities improve their lives.”

PSPA appeals to government to provide the industry with a win-win solution in consideration to the huge funds poured in the countrysides. “More importantly,” Capellan explains, “solar power plants today averts the power crisis. It also hedges the inevitable increase in oil prices, and effectively reduce the consumers’ burden. The entry of solar balances the environment impact of fossil-fuel-dependent power plants as well as contributes to the national agenda of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”