January 15, 2018
DEVELOPERS of stalled
biomass and run-of-river power generation plants have around two years to
finish their projects to qualify for the feed-in-tariff (FiT) that guarantees
payment for their capacity output for 20 years.
Energy Secretary
Alfonso G. Cusi said he was “positively looking” at extending the FiT for the
two renewable energy technologies but only for those that were not able to
finish their projects by end-2017.
“Definitely not three
years,” he told reporters when asked whether the Department of Energy (DoE) was
inclined to grant the recommendation of advisory body National Renewable Energy
Board (NREB) to extend the deadline by three to five years.
“Around two years,” he
added, without giving a definite number.
He said the yet-to-be
signed directive from the DoE would clearly state the capacity in megawatts
(MW) that still needs to be subscribed to qualify for the FiT.
“I want to make it very
clear to everybody that this is the only number that we’re talking about,” he
said.
Under the past
administration, the DoE had set an installation target of 250 MW for both
biomass and run-of-river hydroelectric plants to qualify for the FiT.
Based on DoE data as of
November 2017, only five run-of-river hydro projects with a total capacity of
34.60 MW were awarded by the department “certificates of endorsement,” moving
the projects forward to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for granting of
FiT eligibility.
The subscribed capacity
left a balance of 215.4 MW out of the 250-MW target. The DoE has no update on
the five potential projects with a capacity of 82.7 MW that were expected to
meet the December 2017 deadline.
The ERC had set a FiT
rate of P5.90 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for run-of-river hydro. All five projects
qualified for that rate. The rate has been degressed in 2017 to P5.8705 per kWh
as called for by the FiT rules.
For biomass
development, 19 projects with a total capacity of 138.61 MW were awarded
certificates of eligibility as of November, or a balance of 111.39 MW out of
the 250-MW target. Only one more project with a capacity of 2.6 MW was expected
to receive the endorsement certificate by end-2017.
Of the 19 projects
endorsed to the ERC, 15 qualified for the P6.63 per kWh rate for the first
round, while four qualified for the degressed rate of P6.5969 degressed rate
for 2017.
“We want to be fair to
all,” Mr. Cusi said, adding that the DoE would not want any project to remain
hanging.
The FiT system offers a
fixed rate for the electricity produced by developers of solar, wind, biomass,
ocean energy and run-of-river hydro power plants to encourage investments in
emerging renewable energy technologies.
The first projects to
be completed under the prescribed power installation target were awarded the
guaranteed FiT for 20 years.
Consumers who are
supplied with power through the distribution or transmission network share in
the cost of the FiT scheme in part through a uniform charge per kilowatt-hour
that appears in their monthly electricity bill as “FiT-allowance.”
NREB, which advises the
DoE about the direction for renewables, earlier recommended a FiT extension for
biomass and run-of-river hydro. Both solar and wind have been fully subscribed.
Ocean energy remains a nascent technology.
Mr. Cusi said that
should the last project that would make it by the extended deadline exceed the
installation target, the excess capacity has to be traded at the wholesale
electricity spot market.
“I just want to make
sure that there is no misunderstanding,” he said, adding that the DoE direction
on the extension was ready for signing. — Victor V. Saulon
–
NATIONAL Renewable
Energy Board, which advises the Department of Energy about the direction for
renewables, earlier recommended a FiT extension for biomass and run-of-river
hydro.
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