5,000-MW Solar Philippines rollout plan to challenge energy mix

5,000-MW Solar Philippines rollout plan to challenge energy mix

The 5,000-megawatt rollout plan of Solar Philippines is out to challenge the
prevailing energy mix of the country, with lower cost proposition and
battery storage back-up being succor to the offers lodged to distribution
utilities.

"Solar Philippines has submitted to the country's electric utilities a plan
to lower consumer rates by 30-percent, by replacing all planned coal plants
with solar battery farms," company president Leandro L. Leviste has noted in
a press statement.

He qualified that the offers were made "to all of the country's largest
off-takers," albeit he asked that the identities of the power utilities be
kept under wraps for now, pending ongoing discussions with them.

Coal is currently the dominant fuel for baseload power capacity in the
country, but Leviste indicated for future projects, there is already a big
potential for such to be eclipsed by solar.

"We see it as essential to bring 'least cost power' to all Filipinos; and to
inform coal companies of the latest solar prices because it would be
unfortunate for coal to push through, only to become stranded assets like in
China and India," he stressed.

Leviste emphasized "the Philippines is one of the only countries where plans
for new coal plants are still pushing through for now because of the
perception that solar is expensive," qualifying that "we can't fault coal
companies or policymakers for not believing in solar, it's the solar
industry's fault for not having shown that it can be cheaper and more
reliable than coal."

On their planned solar farm installations, the company noted that on
blueprint are mostly utility-scale deployments.

But Leviste said "if the utilities are not able or willing to accept least
cost solar power, we will increasingly divert attention to distributed
generation, with potential for thousands of megawatts to get off-the-grid."

He said that off-grid installations can even be done at a 100-percent scale,
because with its significantly lower cost, this will already spare Filipino
consumers of the universal charge on missionary electrification (UCME), a
subsidy that they burden in their monthly electricity bills. Globally, the
cost of solar has already been falling to the level of P3.00 per kilowatt
hour equivalent.

"Off-grid market should be replaced with solar as soon as possible, where
solar can be up to half the cost, so consumers can save the entire UCME
rate," the Solar Philippines chief executive has opined.

Leviste added "we believe this is the lowest commercial rate of any
technology.we look forward to help lower prices, provided utilities act in
accordance with their least cost mandate under EPIRA (Electric Power
Industry Reform Act); or allow us to supply consumers directly trough RCOA
(retail competition and open access) and distributed generation."

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Link to Original Article:
http://business.mb.com.ph/2017/07/03/5000-mw-solar-ph-rollout-plan-to-challe
nge-energy-mix/

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com