ERC approves rules on renewable energy
By Iris C. Gonzales (The Philippine Star) | Updated February 10, 2014 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the power regulator, has approved the disbursement and collection guidelines for the so-called Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) system, a move seen to support the renewable energy sector.
The National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) said the guidelines, approved in December, along with efforts of the Department of Energy, would encourage players to build more solar, wind, biomass and run-of-river hydro power plants.
“The RE industry congratulates both the ERC and the DOE for their continued efforts to bring much needed clean generating capacity to the grid.
Additional RE capacity not only stabilizes power rates but will also provide jobs in mostly rural areas. It will also contribute to a cleaner and healthier environment for all,” NREB chairman Pete Maniego said.
To date, under the Energy department’s “first come, first served” FIT policy, roughly 320 MW of much needed generation capacity will be added to the grid, according to Maniego.
Once completed, these power plants will provide much needed capacity that will help stabilize power prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the country’s trading floor for electricity.
According to NREB, the FIT policy has attracted over $800 million in direct investments and aided rural economies by creating over 3,500 construction jobs across the Philippines.
The government has been encouraging players in the renewable energy sector through FIT.
The FIT regime is a form of incentives for renewable energy players.
Feed-in tariffs offer cost-based compensation to renewable energy players among other perks.
The FIT rate approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the power regulator are as follows: P9.68 per kilowatt-hour for solar; P8.53 per kwh for wind, P6.63 per kwh for biomass and P5.90 per kwh for hydropower projects.
The Energy department has been pushing for a robust and diverse power supply mix including renewable energy sources to help ensure the country’s power needs.
2014/02/07
Committed Power Projects Still Inadequate To Meet Future Demand
Despite assurance from Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla of capacity additions when supply conditions hit straining point in 2015, a list of the Department of Energy (DOE) revealed that there are actually only two committed power projects in the Luzon grid.
These are the coal-fired plants of South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation (SLTEC) of Trans-Asia and Ayala group joint venture; and that of Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corporation of the Consunji group.
The initial 135-MW of the Putting Bato coal-fired facility of SLTEC is targeted on stream August this year, according to the energy department; while the 300-MW of the expanded Consunji coal plant in Calaca, Batangas is for commissioning around November this year for Unit 1 of 150MW; and the second unit of another 150MW by February 2015.
The Phinma Group-Ayala joint venture has programmed to expand the capacity of their coal plant by another 135MW and this is targeted on-line by 2015.
What has been teeming in the DOE’s list are “indicative power projects”, but these may not necessarily reach commercial development either due to major issues such as financing, political risks or hurdles on off-take agreements.
The roll of committed power projects for the Visayas grid has also been dismal, with only the 270-MW of Palm Thermal Consolidated Holdings Corporation taking off from blueprint to-date. The facility is due for commissioning in 2015.
Based on DOE’s forecast, Luzon and Visayas grids will be afflicted with supply tightening around 2015. If power projects cannot be firmed up on time, these two power grids faces prospects of brownouts.
For Mindanao, the only committed project logged by the energy department is the 300-MW Therma South Inc. coal plant of the Aboitiz group. It will shore up the grid’s power supply starting 2015.
There are other Mindanao power facilities which project developers guaranteed to be on-line by 2015 and 2016, but these are not included yet in the DOE’s “committed projects’ list”. These include the 210-MW Sarangani coal-fired plant of the Alcantara group and the 405-MW plant of FDC Utilities Inc. of the Filinvest group.
Power industry players have been seeking concrete policy directions as well as updated and sensible energy blueprint that shall guide them in their investment plans.
And while the DOE leadership sounded off expectations that power plant projects will come on-line as they are needed, what it missed in such assumption had been the lingering policy uncertainties which may discourage capital flows in the sector in the near term. (MMV)
Reference:
Velasco, M.M.(2014 February 6). Committed Power Projects Still Inadequate To Meet Future Demand. ManilaBulletin. Retrieved from http://www.mb.com.ph/committed-power-projects-still-inadequate-to-meet-future-demand/
These are the coal-fired plants of South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation (SLTEC) of Trans-Asia and Ayala group joint venture; and that of Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corporation of the Consunji group.
The initial 135-MW of the Putting Bato coal-fired facility of SLTEC is targeted on stream August this year, according to the energy department; while the 300-MW of the expanded Consunji coal plant in Calaca, Batangas is for commissioning around November this year for Unit 1 of 150MW; and the second unit of another 150MW by February 2015.
The Phinma Group-Ayala joint venture has programmed to expand the capacity of their coal plant by another 135MW and this is targeted on-line by 2015.
What has been teeming in the DOE’s list are “indicative power projects”, but these may not necessarily reach commercial development either due to major issues such as financing, political risks or hurdles on off-take agreements.
The roll of committed power projects for the Visayas grid has also been dismal, with only the 270-MW of Palm Thermal Consolidated Holdings Corporation taking off from blueprint to-date. The facility is due for commissioning in 2015.
Based on DOE’s forecast, Luzon and Visayas grids will be afflicted with supply tightening around 2015. If power projects cannot be firmed up on time, these two power grids faces prospects of brownouts.
For Mindanao, the only committed project logged by the energy department is the 300-MW Therma South Inc. coal plant of the Aboitiz group. It will shore up the grid’s power supply starting 2015.
There are other Mindanao power facilities which project developers guaranteed to be on-line by 2015 and 2016, but these are not included yet in the DOE’s “committed projects’ list”. These include the 210-MW Sarangani coal-fired plant of the Alcantara group and the 405-MW plant of FDC Utilities Inc. of the Filinvest group.
Power industry players have been seeking concrete policy directions as well as updated and sensible energy blueprint that shall guide them in their investment plans.
And while the DOE leadership sounded off expectations that power plant projects will come on-line as they are needed, what it missed in such assumption had been the lingering policy uncertainties which may discourage capital flows in the sector in the near term. (MMV)
Reference:
Velasco, M.M.(2014 February 6). Committed Power Projects Still Inadequate To Meet Future Demand. ManilaBulletin. Retrieved from http://www.mb.com.ph/committed-power-projects-still-inadequate-to-meet-future-demand/
2014/02/05
Meralco says power rates down this month
Meralco says power rates down this month
February 3, 2014 10:11 pmManila Times (online version)
POWER consumers will see a drop of 13 centavos per kilowatt-hour in their February bill because of lower generation charges, according to the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
The country’s biggest power distributor said the generation charge was smaller because the power supply has stabilized. For February, the generation charge will be P5.54 kilowatt per hour (kWh), 13 centavos lower than January’s P5.67.
Meralco said the cost of power sourced from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) went down to P30.67 per kWh from P36.08 per kWh in December.
“This reduction in the generation charge, particularly in the cost of power from WESM, was expected as power supply normalized during the January supply month, with most of the baseload power plants that were previously out of service returning to normal operations and with gas-fired plants no longer using the more costly liquid fuel, such as condensate and bio-diesel,” the power distributor explained.
“Sa pagbabalik-normal ng suplay ng kuryente, bumaba sa P5.54/kWh ang generation charge ngayong buwan,” Meralco said on Twitter.
The surge in the generation charge prompted Meralco to seek a record rate hike late last year. The company blamed the higher rates to the shutdown of the Malampaya plant and other power plants. Luzon gets the bulk of its power from Malampaya.
The Supreme Court stopped the implementation of the P4.15 per kilowatt-hour rate increase in December.
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