By Lenie Lectura - June 19, 2017
THE National Renewable Energy Board
(NREB) has approved the rules on Green Energy Option and Renewable Energy (RE)
Trust Fund.
“NREB has finalized and approved the
Green Energy Option Rules and RE Trust Fund Rules. With this, we will endorse
the same to [the] DOE [Department of Energy] for approval,” NREB Chairman Jose
Layug Jr. said in a text message.
The Green Energy Option is a
mechanism to provide end-users the option to choose RE as their source of
energy. The DOE, in consultation with the NREB, will establish the program and
formulate the implementing rules and regulations (IRR).
The Energy Regulatory Commission, on
the other hand, will issue the necessary regulatory framework following the
objectives of the program. Moreover, parties, such as the National Transmission
Corp., its concessionaire, distribution utilities (DU) and the Philippine
Electricity Market Corp. are mandated to provide the mechanisms for the
physical connection and commercial arrangements in support of the program.
Meanwhile, for end-users who will
enroll under the program, the IRR states that they will be provided with
information through their monthly electric bill on how much of their energy
consumption and generation charge is provided by RE facilities.
The Green Energy Option and the RE
Trust Fund are among the priorities that the board is pursuing to fully realize
the benefits of Republic Act (RA) 9513, or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.
Under the law, the said fund shall
be sourced from proceeds from the emission fees collected from all generating
facilities consistent with RA 8749, or the Philippine Clean Air Act.
Other sources include 1.5 percent of
the net annual income of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office; 1.5 percent
of the net annual income of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.; 1.5
percent of the net annual dividends remitted to the National Treasury of the
Philippine National Oil Co. and its subsidiaries; and 1.5 percent of the
proceeds of the government share collected from the development and use of
indigenous non-RE resources, among others.
The creation of the RE Trust Fund
Rules is meant to enhance the development and greater utilization of RE. It
shall be administered by the DOE as a special account in any of the government
financial institutions that shall be exclusively used to finance the research,
development, demonstration and promotion of the widespread and productive use
of RE systems for power and nonpower applications.
The fund shall also support the
development and operation of new RE resources to improve their competitiveness
in the market.
Layug said an endorsement from the
DOE for these two programs could be processed within three to five months. “The
DOE will issue a circular on the rules. Usually, it’s just a yes or no after we
have approved it,” he added.
The two programs, Layug said, could
be implemented this year. “It is the target that these are up for
implementation within the year.”
Layug also added that NREB is
currently working on the rules on renewable portfolio standards (RPS), which
requires DU to source a portion of their power supply from eligible RE sources.
RPS is intended to contribute to the
growth of RE industry. If implemented, this will help the agency attain its
goal of maintaining the RE share in the national energy mix to at least 35
percent by 2030.
The scope of proposed RPS rules
include the following: types of RE sources; yearly minimum RPS requirement;
annual minimum incremental percentage of electricity sold by each mandated
participant, which is required to be sourced from eligible RE resources and
which shall, in no case, be less than 1 percent of its annual energy demand
over the next 10 years; and means of compliance by the mandated participant set
by the government to meet the RPS requirements.
The following entities would be
mandated to participate in the program: DUs, licensed retail electricity
supplier, directly connected customers (DCCs), supplier of last resort,
entities authorized as distributors within the economic zones and generating
companies only to the extent of their actual supply to their DCCs.
A composite team will determine the
minimum annual RPS requirement per mandated participant.
The members of the said team will be
composed of representatives from the NREB, Electric Power Industry Management
Bureau, Renewable Energy Management Bureau, Legal Services and Energy Policy
and Planning Bureau.
Meanwhile, the minimum annual
increment in the RPS level shall be initially set at 2.15 percent to be applied
to the actual total supply portfolio of the mandated participant in each grid
for the previous year, the draft circular stated.
RE sources include biomass,
waste-to-energy technology, wind, solar, run-of-river, impounding hydropower
sources that meet internationally accepted standards, ocean, hybrid systems,
geothermal and other RE technologies that may be later identified by the DOE.
“We will probably forward our
endorsement to the DOE sometime July or onward,” Layug added.
While the DOE, according to Director
Mario Marasigan, cannot commit on the approval of the Green Energy Option and
RE Trust Fund since “these are priority policies of DOE.”
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