Solar producers want 390-MW excess included in FIT-2; gov't to study options

Solar producers want 390-MW excess included in FIT-2; gov't to study options

THE NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY BOARD (NREB) HAS PROVIDED A NEW COMMITTEE
RESPONSIBLE FOR RESOLVING THE CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING THE SECOND ROUND OF
SOLAR'S FEED-IN TARIFF SCHEME (SOLAR FIT-2) THAT HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT IN
QUESTION BY A MAJORITY OF SOLAR PROVIDERS.

Earlier, qualified solar developers, specifically those in the 500-MW target
installation, have been demanding the government to include the 390-MW
excess capacity in the solar FIT to which they were supposed to receive only
a P8.69 per kWh fixed rate for 25 years.

"At the NREB level, we created a committee whose primary task is to generate
options for the stranded (solar) and those options, once vetted at the
committee level, will be approved by the board and endorsed to the DOE
(Department of Energy) secretary," NREB Chairman Jose Layug said.

Among the alternative solutions that were reviewed by the committee, Layug
cited a new round of public auction by using the subscribed marginal cost,
which he said, "a subsidy scheme based on marginal cost so they can continue
to operate without shutting down."

He also said that this shouldn't be likened to or necessarily derived from
FIT; the advisory body is still weighing the numbers before submitting the
proposal to the DOE.

Few other backups also considered include aligning the rate with the current
P4.69 per kWh authorized to the Manila Electric Co.

However, DOE Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi has opposed a third round of the FIT
regime for solar players, especially those with "stranded" solar farms in
Negros where the transmission facility cannot handle any more power
capacity.

Under the Energy Department, NREB is the governing body in charge of the
implementation of renewable energy (RE) projects nationwide.

The FIT scheme is a fixed rate per kWh offered to participating renewable
producers for a period of 20 years issued by the Energy Regulatory
Commission (ERC) to accelerate investments in the expensive RE technologies.

In April 2014, the DOE increased the proposed target capacity of solar
installation from 50-MW to 500-MW, wherein the ERC decreased its approved
FIT rate from P9.68 per kWh to P8.68 per kWh.

The lowered down FIT price is appropriated only to projects certified on
March 15, 2016.

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Link to Original Article:
http://powerphilippines.com/2017/07/26/solar-producers-want-390-mw-excess-ca
pacity-in-fit-2/

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com