Published
November 18, 2016, 10:00 PM By Myrna M. Velasco
About three solar farm
projects will likely be dropped in the race for feed-in-tariff (FIT) incentives
due to non-compliance with required level of completion and ownership concerns.
It was gathered that
the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) already sent a letter to Energy
Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi stipulating the findings that they had on the
validation of the solar plants’ completion.
In that correspondence,
it was reported that two projects – the Enfinity Philippines Renewable
Resources Inc. and Solar Powered Agri-Rural Communities – allegedly failed to
reach the mandated electro-mechanical completion on projects that shall qualify
for FIT incentives.
Instead, the two solar
firms found to have really complied with the rules on projects’ completion are
the Negros Solar and Silay solar projects.
Cusi, in a separate
interview with reporters, similarly indicated that there is a project being
questioned on the nationality of its owners. While he did not mention the solar
firm, it was reported that this concerned Majestics Energy Corporation.
Solar developers have
asked both the DOE and ERC to re-validate data on the completion of projects as
well as the schedule of ‘first dispatch’ of corresponding solar firms to
establish which ones really deserved the certificates of endorsement (CoE) for
FIT incentive.
The data prodded to be
investigated and re-examined have been those coming from the National Grid Corporation
of the Philippines (NGCP) and Philippine Electricity Market Corporation.
Cusi previously told
reporters that it had been the ERC looking into the matter; and that his
department will only act on any recommendation or communication that the
regulatory body will refer to them.
In a letter to the DOE,
the Philippine Solar Power Alliance (PSPA) earlier stipulated that if the rules
on the second solar race would have stayed true to the intent and provisions of
DOE Department Circular Number DC-2013-05-0009, the ‘first dispatch’ undertaken
by participant-solar farms could have been the major basis for them to qualify
in the FIT incentive.
PSPA noted the “meters
cannot lie.” Nevertheless, they were all just shocked to discover later on that
the ‘goal posts’ of the solar FIT2 race allegedly moved to serve the interest
of some parties.
On this lingering
scuffle, Cusi qualified that the COEs for the solar FIT of P8.69 per kilowatt
hour (kWh) were already submitted to the ERC before he took over at the DOE’s
helm, “so it will be improper for me to recall that…it’s already there, so ERC
has to take action on that.”
He added that based on
the regulatory body’s findings then, “they (relevant ERC officials) have to
take action, then whatever that outcome is, if they need to revert the
endorsements to us or would be needing anything from us, that is the time that
we will move accordingly.”
Cusi indicated though
that based on the initial results of the DOE’s fact-finding committee, there
have been data “different from what had been endorsed, but we cannot be the
jury for that.”
The energy chief stated
they received several complaints from project sponsors and developers that have
been disqualified in the solar FIT2 race, “so we want to validate all of
those information, that’s why we have that fact-finding committee of the DOE to
once and for all, clarify this – if the allegations are true.”
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