DOE affirms commitment to renewable energy

The Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday said it is committed to tapping cleaner sources of power for the country, which remains dependent on fossil fuels.

Energy Secretary Zenaida Monsada cited the government's renewable energy program, which provides incentives to private sector developers.

"The government prioritizes energy security, and RE (renewable energy) is one of the major contributors to increase the power supply especially that we are also moving towards clean energy technology," Monsada said in a statement.

Under the feed-in-tariff (FIT) system, qualified developers are offered a fixed rate per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of their exported electricity to the distribution or transmission network.

This scheme excludes the energy utilized from renewable energy plants eligible for own use.

Development costs though will eventually be passed on to ordinary consumers, who pay among the highest power rates in Asia.

FIT subscriptions for RE resources have increased to 806.82 megawatts from 646.65 MW installations since the start of 2016, data from the DOE showed.

The projects include 11 biomass facilities with a total capacity of 94.25 MW; four hydropower plants accounting for 26.60 MW; and six wind farms accounting for 393.90 MW.

Eleven proposed solar power plants with a combined capacity of 292.07 MW have also been endorsed as qualified for the FIT program as of March 15.

More solar power projects may be issued certificates of endorsements (COE) at the completion of the ongoing validation and assessment of the submissions received by the DOE.

“It has to be recalled that the first tranche of the solar for FIT was at 108.90 MW at P9.68/kWh, while the second tranche was the remainder for the 500 MW installation target at P8.69/kWh,” the DOE said.  --Virgil Lopez/KBK, GMA News