(The Philippine Star) | Updated December 26, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines – A
solar developers’ group hopes to get the solar power industry out of a frozen
state in 2017 as it crafts a framework – to be presented to regulators by
January – to address issues hounding the feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme.
The newly-inaugurated Confederation
of Solar Developers of the Philippines (CSDP) is crafting a framework for
future solar power projects, its president Reynaldo Casas said in a recent
interview.
“We have the framework
(but) it’s subject to more validation. We need to validate the concept with
regulatory bodies. First with NREB (National Renewable Energy Board),” Casas
said.
“We are in a hurry
because we want to make sure the industry is not in a frozen state as it is
today. Nobody’s moving,” he said.
The solar industry hit
a snag as controversies surrounded the second round of FIT for solar (solar
FIT-2) that resulted in over 300 megawatts (MW) of stranded projects. Solar
developers have been asking the government to include the overcapacity in the
FIT system.
FIT is a set of incentives
given to power developers for a period of 20 years to invest in the more
expensive renewable energy (RE) sector.
“The issue of a third
FIT is another dimension. CSDP has crafted a concept that we will advocate to
the regulatory bodies in lieu of a third FIT—it’s like a principle of
auctioning but more regionally. It’s a different concept altogether,” he said.
To address concerns of
solar players, the Energy department has formed an investigating committee to
thoroughly study the implementation of the solar FIT-2 following complaints
lodged by solar companies.
This is a welcome
development for CSDP as this will clear the concerns of the whole industry.
We’re very pleased to
see that some regulatory bodies have started responding to our call as confederation…We
are working through the committee. Unlike in the past, individual proponents
are looking with one individual within the regulatory body. But this time, we
as a confederation are being met by the committee,” Casas said.
Another setback for the
solar industry is Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi’s pronouncement that government
is not keen on expanding the FIT system by another round as this will only add
burden to consumers already paying high electricity rates.
No comments:
Post a Comment