(The Philippine Star) | Updated December 3, 2017 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines —
The Department of Energy (DOE) is reviewing whether it should extend its policy
on feed-in tariff (FIT) incentives after hydropower developers appealed to add
another three years to the incentive scheme.
Energy Secretary
Alfonso Cusi told the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC) the agency
will come out with a decision on the FIT for run-of-river hydropower and
biomass projects before it expires by year-end.
“We are reviewing it
since the decision is needed to be filed before year-end,” he said.
Cusi said the National
Renewable Energy Board (NREB) has already submitted to the DOE its
recommendation for the extension of the FIT program for the two technologies.
Part of that
recommendation is the position paper of Philhydro Association Inc., composed of
hydropower developers, manufacturers, construction companies and consultants,
which was also submitted to the DOE.
In its position paper,
Philhydro is seeking clarification to the FIT for run-of-river hydropower since
its installation target “has not been fully subscribed due to factors beyond
the developers’ control.”
“The clarification or any explanation of this
policy would be very relevant to projects which are almost complete, those
which have obtained confirmation of commerciality before December 2017 and
projects that took into consideration the FIT in its investment decision prior
to its construction,” Philhydro president Jose Silvestre Natividad said in the
letter.
Earlier in the year,
the DOE –through the Renewable Energy Management Bureau (REMB) – started advising
hydropower developers to look for off-takers because the FIT is set to expire
on Dec. 31, 2017.
Its data showed 445
hydropower projects have been awarded service contracts but only four run-of
river hydropower facilities have reached construction, successful commissioning
and have been endorsed under the FIT system as of June 30.
Also, there are over
787 megawatts (MW)of potential hydropower capacity but only 26.6 MW have
achieved commissioning.
The disparity stems
from the long list of requirements, such as permits required for the Free and
Prior Informed Consent (FPIC), Ecological Study and Sustainability Plan for
Water Permit with the National Water Resources Board (NWRB), negotiation with
the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines for the system impact study and
facilities study, among others.
“The difficulty in
securing the necessary permits from various national and local government
agencies in particular, the water permit and FPIC process that are peculiar to
hydropower projects,” Philhydro said.
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