July 5, 2019 | 12:30 am
A PLAN to expand the
country’s renewable energy (RE) portfolio needs “careful study” — even if it is
a step in the right direction — in order to prevent passing the burden to
consumers, the chairman of the Senate’s energy panel said.
“Growing the renewable
energy sector is a crucial factor for the Philippines to achieve energy
security by 2040. By collaborating with the National Renewable Energy Board
(NREB) to craft concrete plans to grow the renewable energy sector, the
Department of Energy (DoE) has put itself right on track of its energy
direction,” said Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian in a statement on Thursday.
However, he said to
ensure its success and prevent any unnecessary pass-on charges to consumers,
the two agencies “must conduct a careful study on the program, especially when
it comes to the implementation of the green energy tariff rate, taking into
consideration the declining costs of RE technologies.”
“Will this new tariff
require subsidy and if so, how much will the rate effect on consumers be? These
are some of the things that the DoE needs to thoroughly study before they push
through with the plan.”
Mr. Gatchalian noted
that in the past committee hearing on energy security, the DoE “painted a grim
picture” that the contribution of renewables in the country’s energy mix is
expected to shrink to 17% in 2040 from 36% in 2017 under its business as usual
scenario. He said he was hopeful that through the new DoE and NREB proposal to
build a renewable energy portfolio of 2,000 megawatts by offering a green
energy tariff, “we will be able to grow the share of renewables in our energy
mix.” — VVS
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