Four years after passage, Renewable Energy law yet to be implemented in PHL

Four years after Congress passed the Renewable Energy law, the Philippines has yet to fully implement it because of mechanisms that have yet to be put in place. Mario Marasigan, director of Department of Energy's Renewable Energy Management Bureau, admitted that they are having a hard time implementing the law due to lack of mechanisms. "We are actually working doubly hard. Nahihirapan talaga tayo dahil hindi pa tapos lahat ng mechanisms. We remain to see the final rules and regulation as to the feed-in tariff system," he told GMA News Online in an interview Monday after the Policy Dialogue on Scaling Up Renewable Energies in the Philippines held in Makati City. In July this year, the Energy Regulatory Commission announced the feed-in tariffs for hydro, biomass, wind and solar after public consultations and discussions. The feed-in tariff system is expected to boost the transition towards a sustainable energy future. The system assures renewable energy suppliers of recovery of their investments as electricity end-users will be charged fixed amounts to cover energy production taken from renewable sources. This serves as an incentive for investors to go into renewable energy development and production as it assured them of stable pricing for energy from renewable sources. The other mechanisms needed to be put in place as provided in the Renewable Energy law are renewable portfolio standard, net metering, renewable energy market, green energy options, interconnection with the Grid, priority dispatch and renewable energy trust fund. "Hopefully, once these mechanisms are in place, then tuloy tuloy na tayo," Marasigan said. Asked when this could happen, he said, "Optimistically, by next year we should be done; conservatively, in the next two years." "In terms of the number of projects, I think we [have a passing rate], but in terms of implementation of the actual projects that are already in line, I think we have yet to produce more," Marasigan added. He said they have yet to reach their target of 750 megawatts. At present, the government has approved 331 projects and looking at approving 159 more. The implementation of the Renewable Energy Law is expected to provide the country with the use of clean energy, which is one of the key strategies in countering global warming. Proponents said renewable energies provide more than decreased carbon emissions but also increase of energy security, more diversified energy mix, local economic development and job creation. Marasigan said as of December 31, 2011, the share of renewable energy use in the country was 40.1 percent. For her part, Mary Ann Lucille Sering, commissioner and vice chairperson of the Climate Change Commission, said scaling up renewable energy will have little impact if it will not allow local technologies to flourish. "The use of renewable energy should be backed by a local technology,” she said. “If we continue to rely on technology outside the country, the cost of the use of renewable energy will remain high." She also underscored the need for the Climate Change Commission to coordinate with the Energy Department "because we passed a Renewable Energy Law that did not factor in climate change." "We know that based on projection, by 2020 there will be substantial reduction of rainfall especially in Mindanao in certain months, we don't know how this will impact our hydropower supply in that area of the country," Sering said. She said without any vulnerability assessment, the country could be pushing for renewable energies but do not know how the changes in climate will affect the resources. "We might be pushing for something that could turn out to be a dud because we did not factor in the most important event that everyone is talking globally," she said. — KBK, GMA News