The Sun and the Philippine Government Renewable Energy Initiative
With
a declared state policy of exploration, development and utilization of Renewable
Energy resource, Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (RA 9513) was enacted.
The
law aims to reduce the over reliance on imported fossil fuels for power
generation and to mitigate the harmful emission of carbon dioxide.
There
are two important provisions in the law that is most appropriate in the
development of residential and small scale (Distributed Generation) set up.
Feed-in-Tariffs
(Section 7 of RA 9513).
The
Feed-in Tariff system as stipulated aims to accelerate the development of RE
resources by giving incentives by institutionalization of special subsidies to developers
to recuperate the capital investments.
FIT
is vital to RE developers since this will make the deployment of RE
technologies attractive. Although RE energy is acceptable to the public there is
wide spread skepticism in the way subsidies will be incorporated into end users
monthly payment since it will be the end users who will foot the bill for FITs.
Amidst
the power price hikes and the immediate manifestation of environmental impact
of global warming, there is a clamor for the full implementation of RA 9513,
the first step is the implementation of FIT.
Update (Oct 12, 2012) : The ERC approved the FIT rates for Run-of-river hydro, Biomass, Wind and Solar. Approved Solar FIT rate is pegged at Php 9.68 per kW-hr. Click here for approval by ERC.
Net-metering (Section 10 of RA 9513)
Net-metering
is most appropriate for small scale installation of less than 100 kW rated
capacity. Net metering is a scheme or system in which end user with installed
RE energy generator such as rooftop or ground mounted Solar Panel modules is
credited with energy credits for the excess power generation exported into the
grid.
The
law mandates distribution utilities (e.g. Meralco) to enter without
discrimination into net metering agreement with end users who has installed RE
system.
Net
metering is supposed to be the incentives for residential and small building
owners to attract them into Renewable Energy utilization and generation at a
small but wide scale level. With net metering small scale owners will not only
be able to save their electricity bill since what they produce shall be used
locally but will also earn credits for whatever excess energy they have exported
to the grid. With net metering credits the payback period of investment is
further accelerated.
Again
four years after the law, net metering scheme is yet to be formulated.
Other
Laws Pending
House
Bill 5405 (HB 5405) or One Million Solar Roof Act of 2011
HB
5405 is a house bill filed by Ted Casino (Bayan Muna), co-sponsored by the
Representatives of AnakPawis, Kabataan, Gabriela, and Act. The Bill aims to
enact incentives and provide credit facilities for small solar power systems.
The Bill should be deemed urgent by the government for implementation in the
middle of the unstoppable price hike almost every month for various of reasons but
mostly on the limited supply of fossil fuels (Coal, gas, bunker and diesel).
Senate
Bill 2751 (SB 2751) or Solar Roof Acts of 2010
Sen.
Miriam Defensor Santiago had filed a SB 2751 with the aim of providing
competitive grants to LGU’s for rebates, loans and other incentives to
individuals or entities for the purchase and installation of SOLAR ENERGY
systems. The main goal of the Senate bill is that the Act promotes the
installation of solar energy systems to ONE MILLION ROOFTOPS.
There
is a sense of urgency each passing day to actively utilize renewable energy in
particular SOLAR ENERGY.
SOLAR
power systems are the most practical for distributed generation systems because
they are compact and the solar energy is abundantly available within our
geographical location.
It
is an accepted fact that there is a cost for technology. The cost of technology
should not hinder the public to accept and use it since a law (RA 9513) has
been enacted already to accelerate the payback and mitigate the capital investment
needed to start SOLAR power utilization.
As a
follow-up, there are pending bills in the Lower House and the Senate that aims
to accelerate the financial acceptability of SOLAR POWER systems making it more
affordable by giving incentive and credits to ONE MILLION ROOF TOP owners.
Four years of inaction since the signing of the first and most agressive RENEWABLE LAW in South East Asia and yet...
The Sun is out there... but the Philippine government is somewhere else...
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