Solar players roar for 3rd round of FIT

by Myrna Velasco April 13, 2016

http://www.mb.com.ph/solar-players-roar-for-3rd-round-of-fit/

With roughly 890 megawatts of solar capacities rounding up competition in the second wave race for feed-in-tariff (FIT), the industry players in this segment are now intensifying calls for another round of the fixed-rate subsidy.

In a statement to the media, the Philippine Solar Power Alliance (PSPA) has been batting for immediate government decision on the third round of feed-in-tariff (FIT) that shall cover capacities or projects that reached 80-percent mechanical completion on the prescribed cut-off date of March 15, 2016.

PSPA said it is “appealing to the government to find a win-win solution in addressing the 600MW addition of solar capacity to the 2nd contracting round of the Solar FIT Program.”

She made reference to the earlier reported 750MW completed projects, but both the Department of Energy (DOE) and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) indicated that capacity additions actually reached higher at close to 900MWs.

At this stage though, both relevant agencies are undecided what to do with the more than 300MW that shall be dropped from the 2nd round FIT program.

With rising power rates, the ERC and DOE are prodded to decide cautiously on the next round of FIT incentives because these are added financial burden to consumers.

On the other hand, technology costs for solar are also continuously going down that other power markets are now actually exiting FIT incentives.

The energy department, in particular, has noted that it will have to wait for specific recommendations from the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) – to be supported by studies and with firm justifications why the next round of subsidies from consumers’ pockets are warranted.

Capellan opined that with supply tightening this year and when oil prices wil rise again, the additional solar capacities will be necessary to augment on-grid power supply – partly setting references on a study made by The Lantau Group.

“Such findings made a compelling case for government to accept all the 750MW combined capacity of solar power plants and provide incentives to those that delivered solar enegy,” she said.

The energy department is currently re-validating the generation efficiency and reliability of all competed solar projects before handing down its verdict on who would finally be granted certificates of endorsement (COE) for FIT incentives.