Additional Solar Power Plant in Mindanao

BoI okays solar plant
By Othel V. Campos | Posted on Apr. 12, 2013 at 12:00am


The Board of Investments granted fiscal incentives to the P3.3-billion solar power project of PhilNewEnergy.

PhilNewEnergy is a joint venture between Mitsubishi Corp., through wholly-owned unit Diamond Generating Asia Ltd., and the Ayala Group through subsidiary AC Energy Holdings Inc.

PhilNewEnergy plans to augment power supply in Mindanao by installing a capacity of 35 megawatts. It will build a solar photovoltaic power plant in Darang, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.

The Solar photovoltaic power plant is expected to start commercial operation by March 2015 and will employ 93 people.

PhilNewEnergy will build the power plant using a series of photovoltaic modules that use the “photoelectric effect” to generate electricity on exposure to sunlight.

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Philippine FIT for implementation in 2014

Philippine clean energy tariffs to start next year—government
Agence France-Presse
Wednesday, March 27th, 2013


MANILA, Philippines—The first power projects under the Philippines’ main incentive scheme for renewable energy should finally come online next year after a long regulatory struggle, an official said Wednesday. 

Solar-power plants of between three and five megawatts each are expected to be the first to supply electricity under the plan, Mario Marasigan, the energy department’s renewable energy bureau chief, told AFP. 

“We hope to see the first new renewable installations… under the feed-in tariff system hopefully next year. The most immediate possibility is solar installation,” Marasigan said in an interview. 

The so called “feed-in tariff” guarantees energy companies an extra amount of money above the market rate for every kilowatt of clean power they sell. 

It was one of the main planks of a 2008 renewable energy law to spur investment and see half the country’s energy come from renewable sources by 2030, compared with about 39 percent currently. 

Despite the move, bigger projects, such as geothermal and wind, remain up three to five years away, he added. 

Industry and green groups have complained that since the law was introduced, the tariff scheme has been relegated to a low priority and got lost in red tape while the government has focused on boosting fossil fuel power. 

The government only approved the tariff rates in July last year, and the government has not yet approved any of the hundreds of projects that have submitted applications to participate. 

“It (the feed-in tariff scheme) needs a stronger push from the government… there is too much red tape in renewable energy investments,” Greenpeace Philippines’ program manager Beau Baconguis said. 

However Marasigan defended the pace of the roll-out, saying that the government was introducing a completely new energy financing scheme and this took time to get right. 

“A FIT (feed-in tariff) mechanism is relatively new to us… it took us a while to learn and really decipher what is the best means for us,” he said.

Power outage again in Mindanao

Power outages hit key cities in Mindanao anew

By Edith Regalado (The Philippine Star) | Updated March 14, 2013 - 12:00am

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – A large part of Mindanao is again experiencing blackouts as a result of the power curtailment imposed by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines due to shortages in the island’s hydropower capacity. 

Key cities such as General Santos, Butuan, Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan have been affected by almost eight hours of power outages a day. 

At present, Mindanao has a power shortfall of 294 megawatts, as the demand stands at 1,157 MW versus the actual supply of only 863 MW. 

But Mindanao Development Authority chairperson Lualhati Antonino allayed fears of any power crisis, saying the government has earmarked P3.8 billion for the country’s power capabilities. 

The budget, according to Antonino, includes allocation for the rehabilitation of existing hydroelectric power plants in the south. 

“The Aquino administration has set aside P1.67 billion for the repair and rehabilitation of the country’s hydropower plants,” she said. Hydropower plants are supposed to have a maximum lifespan of only 30 years, she said, but the island’s hydropower plants are more than 30 years old. 

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She said the government wants to restore the hydropower plants to their original, more efficient state after the repair and rehabilitation work. 

Antonino said the government has allotted another P2.2 billion for the repair of Mindanao’s water dikes. She said there is a need to control the flow of water from the dikes being used in hydropower plants to avoid downstream flooding.

She said it is not only General Santos City that is experiencing up to six hours of power outages but also other areas in Mindanao.

The government is looking at the possibility of using a 300-MW interruptible power load plan to solve the island’s power problems.

Companies with their own generator sets are also encouraged to share their power and the rates will be discussed with the Energy Regulatory Commission in two weeks’ time, Antonino said.

Beating the power rates
PDI Editorial 26 February 2013


Obviously, because the power sector is very complex for the ordinary consumer to understand, every increase in electricity rates is met with criticism. The cost should simply be generation expense plus transmission cost plus distribution charge, but there are various taxes imposed by the government on electricity. To complicate matters, there are the so-called universal charge for stranded contract cost (UC-SCC), universal charge for stranded debts (UC-SD) and, in the near future, the feed-in tariff (FIT) rates designed to help developers of renewable energy. 

Thus it was a great relief for consumers when the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) rejected the petition of the state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) to collect another P65 billion worth of so-called stranded debts. Earlier in the week, though, the ERC had ruled that PSALM could collect P53.58 billion of UC-SCC, which is a new component in electricity bills, from all consumers. 

Metro Manila residents already bear the highest electricity rates in Asia, according to a 2011 survey of the region by the Japan External Trade Organization, the second survey by an international agency showing the Philippines as having the most expensive electricity in Asia. In 2010, Australian consulting firm International Energy Consultants found that Manila’s residential rates had surpassed those of Tokyo’s. Of the total retail electricity price, Manila Electric Co.’s distribution charges account for 16 percent; generation charges, 65 percent; transmission cost, 9 percent; and the balance of 10 percent, VAT and other taxes. 

Not a few businessmen have complained that the high cost of electricity in the country could be one of the major reasons foreign investments have been avoiding the Philippines. In a summit in 2006 to identify factors why the Philippines was not very competitive in attracting investors, the high cost of electricity was cited as one of the biggest hurdles. It was pointed out that while some progress on issues like professionalizing public offices, improving access of SMEs (small and medium  enterprises) to finance, improving quality of human resources and ease of doing business has been achieved during the last five years, there has been no improvement in making the cost of electricity competitive. 

At that time, the Management Association of the Philippines and other business groups, through the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) then headed by former Trade Secretary Cesar Bautista, suggested that the cost of power could be reduced by addressing four low-hanging fruits. 

First was for open access to be started immediately to achieve a free-market competition environment that will encourage new private companies to participate in generation. (This, to this day, remains delayed.) Second, for the restructuring of the electric cooperatives to achieve good governance and more economic aggregation. (This part of the power industry remains problematic.) Third, for the high cost of fuels not to be further burdened with additional levies, taxes or royalties. (The scrapping of any tax though is hard to implement because of the current state of government finances.) 

However, the country can focus straight away on the fourth proposal: a national energy conservation movement to be imposed by the government with the private sector as partner, and with clear metrics (for example, 10-percent savings in 18 months) and a clear system of “incentives” for those who save and “penalties” for those who do not. NCC noted that this was institutionalized by Energy Secretary Geronimo Z. Velasco during the Marcos years. It said Japan employed such a program during the Fukushima nuclear accident, achieving 19-percent savings quickly. The objective was to maximize the use of existing facilities by reducing wasteful consumption. This is the low-hanging fruit that the Aquino administration can address today to ease the burden caused by high electricity prices. 

In the meantime, consumers can do a lot of other things to lower their electric bills. They can replace lighting with energy-saving bulbs that consume less energy and last much longer, retire inefficient and old appliances such as air-conditioning units and refrigerators, put skylights in their houses where possible, unplug electric items that are not being used, including laptop and mobile phone chargers. 

Reducing wasteful consumption of electricity should begin at home.

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Lower MERALCO Bill in Dec 2012 billing

Meralco generation charge lower by 0.15 centavos per kWh in Dec.

Business Mirror
Published on Thursday, 
06 December 2012 20:23
Written by Paul Anthony A. Isla

CUSTOMERS of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest power retailer, can expect lower power bills this month.

Meralco said on Thursday that its generation charge dropped by  0.15 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to P5.47 per kWh this month.

Meralco added that the lower cost of power supplied by the National Power Corp. (Napocor), which saw a reduction of 0.31 centavos per kWh, and caused mainly by lower purchases during peak periods in the November supply compared to the previous month.

The lower Napocor charges, Meralco added also offset a 0.04-centavos-per kWh increase in overall costs from independent power producers (IPPs), because of the reduced dispatch of First Gas and Quezon Power.

Meralco said IPP costs would have been higher without the improved dispatch and lower fuel costs of SEM-Calaca. Meralco also noted that charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) also increased by 0.52 centavos per kWh.

Meralco added that the impact of the increase in WESM prices was mitigated by a reduction in the company’s exposure to the spot market to 6 percent from 7 percent of its total supply requirements.
Meralco added that Napocor and IPPs accounted for 51 percent and 43 percent, respectively, of its total power requirements.