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DOE Reviews Proposal to Increase ER Capacity
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) is reviewing a proposal to increase renewable energy (RE) facilities under the Renewables Portfolio Standards (RPS) policy to meet ER goals.
“We are still studying the percentage increase proposed by the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB),” said DOE Undersecretary Redentor Delola.
NREB, the advisory board charged with the effective implementation of RE projects in the country, said that the one percent annual increase in RE installations under the RPS would not be enough to meet RE goals.
RPS is a market-based policy that requires power distribution companies (DUs), electric cooperatives, and retail electricity supplies (RES) to source an agreed share of their energy supply from renewable energy facilities. eligible.
It is one of the measures of the 2008 Renewable Energy (RE) Act to increase renewable energy production and meet renewable energy targets. The country is targeting a renewable energy share of 35 percent in the power generation mix by 2030.
At the end of 2019, renewables had a 28 percent share of the country’s energy mix.
To meet the 2030 target, NREB proposes an increase from one percent to 2.52 percent after 2022. The RPS level is currently set at one percent through 2022.
“They say the single increase will not be able to reach the 35 percent target. So, we are looking at the numbers right now. As it is, we are still on the one percent annual increase because there is no secretary approval to increase it to a higher percentage, ”Delola said.
Earlier, AC Energy Inc. Chairman and CEO Eric France also said the government must eventually raise the RPS target to just one percent in order to meet ER’s 35 percent stake in 10 years.
“My hope is that over time, the government increases that. At the current RPS level, which is at an annual increase of one percent, we will not reach 35 percent of renewable energy production by 2030. We are currently at 21 percent, ”he said.
“If we are serious about 35 percent, we agree with the NREB that the one percent increase should go up to 2.5 percent by 2023 or 2024,” France said.
But DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi said there are several requests filed with the agency to submit RE projects that will help the country accelerate RE development.
“Aside from the auction of 2,000 megawatts (MW), RPS of one percent each year, there are other applications. I think there is 8,500 MW of solar, wind, battery for the competitive selection process (CSP) that is being processed now. That is not included in the auction, not even included in the one percent RPS. There are other ER increases that are being applied in the Renewable Energy Management Office (REMB), ”he said.
He was referring to the green energy auction, established under the policy of the green energy tariff program, which will facilitate the contracting of supplies by qualified suppliers with eligible customers in a competitive process.
The policy also establishes the green energy tariff that “would provide price signals on the commercial value of electricity generated from RE installations”, which would be the basis of a reference rate for RE in the country.
The DOE has set the auction for green energy for 2,000 MW in June 2021.
Currently, DOE Undersecretary Félix William Fuentebella said that REMB is finalizing the terms of reference (TOR) for the country’s first green energy auction.
Initially set at 2,000 MW, the DOE chief said the agency will definitely auction more renewable energy capacity after the first round.
“We are prepared to increase. But instead of saying how much we are going to increase it, let’s first look at the auction production, ”Cusi said.
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