More perks readied for ‘clean’ power dev’t
The government body formed to spur the development and use of "green" power resources is preparing the rules for the non-fiscal incentives provided by Republic Act 9513, or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, for implementation by the next administration that assumes office on June 30.
Fiscal incentives provided by RA 9513, which had been the focus of the implementing rules and regulations issued for this law in May last year and which are now offered to developers, are income tax holiday for the first seven years of operation, tax-free carbon credits from renewable energy projects, as well as duty-free importation of machinery and equipment for the first 10 years of operation.
"We are finishing the framework [for non-fiscal incentives] by June 30, so that we can prepare a turnover report to the next administration. These are the guidelines for RPS (renewable portfolio standard), net metering, green energy option and renewable energy market," Arthur N. Aguilar, chairman of the National Renewable Energy Board or NREB, said in a recent phone interview.
"These are very important things that have to be in, regardless of who will head the next administration, who will also hopefully push renewable energy sources into the mainstream policies."
NREB is the state body formed under RA 9513 to help the Department of Energy (DoE) draft policies for the development of renewable energy resources.
The envisioned RPS will require distribution utilities to source a certain percentage of their power mix from renewable energy sources like biomass, geothermal, solar, hydro and wind. RPS will also require use of renewable energy in grids and priority dispatch to utilities.
Net metering gives consumers who have small renewable energy facilities like solar panels to gain credits from the renewable energy they generate for their own use which could then be used to offset their power bills.
"Net metering is if you have, for example, solar panels and 5%-10% of your consumption is already produced by that, that would be metered and priced at the FIT (feed-in tariff) and then it would be deducted from your other meter, which is your Meralco (Manila Electric Co.) or cooperative bill," Mr. Aguilar explained.
FIT is a system which guarantees a fixed price of power to be purchased from renewable energy sources over a set period. FIT is designed to encourage investment in developing indigenous sources of energy by setting higher tariff rates for electricity sourced from renewable energy power plants over power from conventional fossil fuel-based facilities.
Green energy option gives consumers the choice to source their preferred amounts of renewable energy-sourced electricity from their utilities, especially if they are advocates of this source of power.
The renewable energy market, on the other hand, will provide the trading platform for renewable energy sources that could be incorporated into the existing Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, or WESM.
"It’s businesses trading among themselves, like if you’re a DU (distribution utility) and your RPS says you need to have X percent from renewable energy, and for some reason you can’t, and there’s some who have excess, you can buy that," Mr. Aguilar said.
Mario C. Marasigan, DoE assistant secretary who has been spearheading the department’s renewable energy program, said his office has been studying how best to offer these incentives.
"There are many parameters that are being studied, many factors to consider. There are technical groups working on it," Mr. Marasigan said in a phone interview.
"It’s hard to give and commit to a timeline on when these could all be implemented, but we are working on it already," he added.
The first non-fiscal incentive which may be offered is the feed-in tariff, which has been much awaited by renewable energy investors who have secured service contracts from DoE.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said it aims to finalize FIT rules within the month.
ERC executive director Francis Saturnino C. Juan said the commission has concluded consultations with stakeholders regarding FIT.
"We will now bring it up within the commission, incorporating all comments gathered from the public hearing. Hopefully, we could finalize it within the month, which will still be within our first-semester target," Mr. Juan said in a phone interview.
"This will have a huge impact on RE (renewable energy) investments, so it was prioritized," Mr. Juan said.
NREB’s Mr. Aguilar said his office will submit its own recommendations on the FIT to the ERC by next week.
Aside from the actual tariff rates, another important component of the FIT will be the payment and collection system, he added.
"Sure you have FIT, sure you have RPS, but if you’re an RE developer and get paid after 65 days, that will be a problem," Mr. Aguilar explained.
"The integrity and the timeliness of the payment scheme is just as important as the rate itself," he stressed.
"That is also what we are working out." - BusinessWorld
Fiscal incentives provided by RA 9513, which had been the focus of the implementing rules and regulations issued for this law in May last year and which are now offered to developers, are income tax holiday for the first seven years of operation, tax-free carbon credits from renewable energy projects, as well as duty-free importation of machinery and equipment for the first 10 years of operation.
"We are finishing the framework [for non-fiscal incentives] by June 30, so that we can prepare a turnover report to the next administration. These are the guidelines for RPS (renewable portfolio standard), net metering, green energy option and renewable energy market," Arthur N. Aguilar, chairman of the National Renewable Energy Board or NREB, said in a recent phone interview.
"These are very important things that have to be in, regardless of who will head the next administration, who will also hopefully push renewable energy sources into the mainstream policies."
NREB is the state body formed under RA 9513 to help the Department of Energy (DoE) draft policies for the development of renewable energy resources.
The envisioned RPS will require distribution utilities to source a certain percentage of their power mix from renewable energy sources like biomass, geothermal, solar, hydro and wind. RPS will also require use of renewable energy in grids and priority dispatch to utilities.
Net metering gives consumers who have small renewable energy facilities like solar panels to gain credits from the renewable energy they generate for their own use which could then be used to offset their power bills.
"Net metering is if you have, for example, solar panels and 5%-10% of your consumption is already produced by that, that would be metered and priced at the FIT (feed-in tariff) and then it would be deducted from your other meter, which is your Meralco (Manila Electric Co.) or cooperative bill," Mr. Aguilar explained.
FIT is a system which guarantees a fixed price of power to be purchased from renewable energy sources over a set period. FIT is designed to encourage investment in developing indigenous sources of energy by setting higher tariff rates for electricity sourced from renewable energy power plants over power from conventional fossil fuel-based facilities.
Green energy option gives consumers the choice to source their preferred amounts of renewable energy-sourced electricity from their utilities, especially if they are advocates of this source of power.
The renewable energy market, on the other hand, will provide the trading platform for renewable energy sources that could be incorporated into the existing Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, or WESM.
"It’s businesses trading among themselves, like if you’re a DU (distribution utility) and your RPS says you need to have X percent from renewable energy, and for some reason you can’t, and there’s some who have excess, you can buy that," Mr. Aguilar said.
Mario C. Marasigan, DoE assistant secretary who has been spearheading the department’s renewable energy program, said his office has been studying how best to offer these incentives.
"There are many parameters that are being studied, many factors to consider. There are technical groups working on it," Mr. Marasigan said in a phone interview.
"It’s hard to give and commit to a timeline on when these could all be implemented, but we are working on it already," he added.
The first non-fiscal incentive which may be offered is the feed-in tariff, which has been much awaited by renewable energy investors who have secured service contracts from DoE.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said it aims to finalize FIT rules within the month.
ERC executive director Francis Saturnino C. Juan said the commission has concluded consultations with stakeholders regarding FIT.
"We will now bring it up within the commission, incorporating all comments gathered from the public hearing. Hopefully, we could finalize it within the month, which will still be within our first-semester target," Mr. Juan said in a phone interview.
"This will have a huge impact on RE (renewable energy) investments, so it was prioritized," Mr. Juan said.
NREB’s Mr. Aguilar said his office will submit its own recommendations on the FIT to the ERC by next week.
Aside from the actual tariff rates, another important component of the FIT will be the payment and collection system, he added.
"Sure you have FIT, sure you have RPS, but if you’re an RE developer and get paid after 65 days, that will be a problem," Mr. Aguilar explained.
"The integrity and the timeliness of the payment scheme is just as important as the rate itself," he stressed.
"That is also what we are working out." - BusinessWorld
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