NREB lobbies FIT award to add’l solar capacity
Solar industry players said the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) is in discussion with them on “submission of relevant data” purportedly for the award of feed-in-tariff (FIT) incentives to the remaining 300 megawatts of solar capacity that have been dislodged earlier in the second wave of the FIT race.
When the remaining 300MW will be awarded with FIT subsidies, it will push up the power rates under FIT Allowance (FIT-All) line item in the electric bills, which currently is petitioned for to go up to R0.29 per kilowatt hour (kWh) from currently at R0.12 per kWh. The FIT2 race intended to qualify up to 500MW only of first-finishers for the FIT perks, but in that investment wave, more than 800MW capacity had been completed.
Solar industry players, which tipped off the media on the discussion, are now turning extremely cautious on their bargaining chip for FIT incentives saying they have to know the truth first on the matter before providing data to the renewable energy bureau.
When asked if he has given any mandate to NREB to discuss such concern with the solar sector, Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi’s repulsive response in a text message was “I don’t know about that.” As a matter of fact, it was the energy chief who keeps on reiterating that he will no longer issue FIT certificates of endorsement (COEs) to the remaining 300MW that did not make it to the solar race.
This development came following the plea of the Philippine Solar Power Alliance (PSPA) to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to recall or reconsider the award of FIT certificates of compliance (FIT-COCs) to 17 solar firms amid questions on the validation of completion of some projects.
“It is public knowledge that numerous complaints have been lodged before the Commission on the alleged irregularities surrounding the 17 COE (certificate of endorsement) issuances for the FIT2 under the previous administration,” PSPA President Tetchi Capellan has stated in her official correspondence to ERC Chairman Jose Vicente B. Salazar.
Capellan thus noted that “given these compelling reasons, the Alliance is respectfully seeking clarification on the circumstances surrounding the issuance of the COCs to the 17 solar power plants knowing there is an ongoing investigation on the above-mentioned complaints being conducted by the Department of Energy (DOE) under the chairmanship of Undersecretary Pete Ilagan.”
The PSPA president added “the Alliance believes there is basis to revisit the Commission decision and to recall its resolution on the COC to the 17 solar plants until the DOE completes its fact-finding mission and makes a determination on who are entitled to the COCs.”
The solar industry players also sought an audience with the ERC “so that we may be given the chance to provide more information on the matter as well as be enlightened on the next steps to further protect our members’ interests.”
The energy department has yet to make public its findings on the review that it had undertaken on the commercial operations validation of the solar projects. (MMV)