The development of renewable energy is still not a priority



[ad_1]

MANILA, Philippines – The 2008 Renewable Energy (RE) Act encouraged the development of cleaner energy resources, but not as much as she had hoped.

The law pushes the country to develop The use of renewable energy will eventually reduce the country's exposure to price fluctuations in international markets, because these have not need fuel to provide electricity to their customers.

But ten years after the adoption of the law, several measures have not yet been fully implemented, which has slowed the pace of developments in renewable energies.

"There was a slowdown after the FIT) as expected," said Eric Francia, president and chief executive officer of AC Energy Inc., the Ayala Group's energy business.

The RE Act established the implementation of the FIT scheme, which gives a set of incentives such as guaranteed fixed rate ag, priority shipment to ER promoters to develop and operate wind farms, solar , oceanic, hydroelectric over water and biombad for 20 years.

While tariffs were issued only in 2012, the interest in harnessing renewable energy, especially solar and wind, has grown exponentially.

In fact, the adoption of projects has swollen in terms of capacity leading to two series of FITs for solar and wind energy. There is an installed capacity of 393.9 megawatts (MW) for wind and 525.95 MW for solar.

"RE law allowed the RE sector to use the TRG mechanism.There are now several industry participants with significant experience and capabilities in different ER technologies. The country can now take advantage of lower costs and efficiencies in renewable energy, "said Francia.

For this reason, the Duterte Administration decided not to extend the FIT scheme to another cycle. ER promoters come from the FIT-Allocation Fund (FIT-All), which is billed to consumers and accounted for as a separate element of the FIT-All.

The fund is managed by National Transmission Corp. (TransCo), which has filed applications to increase the FIT-All rate for 2018.

From only four centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 2015, the current FIT-All rate charged to consumers is 25.63 centavos per kWh.

Consumer Advocacy Group Chairman Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI) and former Undersecretary for Trade and Industry, Victor Dimagiba, said that this only increased the burden on consumers. costs to consumers

. hydropower and biombad, which

Lopez-led First Gen Corp., a major power player in the country, has focused on its hydroelectric developments due to the lack of FIT long term.

"This is a very important resource of the country and yet it is unclear whether we will receive an FIT for a long-term investment," said Giles Puno, president and chief operating officer. from First Gen.

The Ministry of Energy (DOE) has extended the FIT for both technologies only for two years in order to meet the prescribed allowance of 250 MW each. This only gives promoters who have an ongoing construction to qualify for FIT benefits.

The latest available data from the DOE Renewable Energy Management Office showed that a total of 28.6976 MW had been absorbed by existing hydroelectric projects over the water. MW had been consuming biombad plants completed by the end of 2016.

Companies are also asking for more incentives – or at least the retention of incentives – for the development of geothermal projects in the country.

being the second largest geothermal developer in the world, next to the United States, but has now been overtaken by Indonesia.

From 1,932 MW in 2003, geothermal installed capacity even decreased to 1,916 MW in 2017.

"Since the 1980s, we are already in second place and last year we were exceeded by Indonesia, it's been more than 30 years, "said the deputy chairman of the Philippine Geothermal Association (NGAP) and the deputy vice president of Energy Development Corp., Noel Salonga

NGAP, the umbrella group for the country 's geothermal developers RE law on the cover of the second package of the Tax Reform Act for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN).

She said that TRAIN 2 would further reduce the competitiveness of the Philippines by attracting investors in geothermal energy through the current proposal to apply a single menu of incentives that may not meet the needs of the industry.

incentives offered in the ca dre TRAIN 2, the tax holidays applicable only for the first five years of commercial exploitation and for a period not exceeding three years; corporate tax rate (IRS) of 15% based on taxable net income; duty-free import of raw materials and capital goods in the first five years; the removal of VAT incentives and special property tax rates; and the repeal of carry forward net operating losses, accelerated depreciation, tax exemption on carbon credits, tax credit on equipment goods interiors and cash incentives for missionary electrification.

The President and Chief Operating Officer of Basic Energy Corp. (BEC), Oscar de Venecia Jr., said that geothermal energy has an important role to play in the country, especially by providing mbadive electrical energy

De Venecia "Well," because development is capitalistic especially in the exploration part.

As the country experienced headwinds in the development of RE, the RE Act accelerated the exploration of indigenous resources, said Senator Sherwin Gatchalian. Quoting data collected by the Senate Energy Committee that he chairs, Gatchalian said the installed capacity of wind, solar and biombad energy has increased over the last decade.

To accelerate the development of RE resources, the country The first step is for DOE to fully implement the RE law since the renewable portfolio standard (RPS), the energy market renewable energy (REM), the green energy option (GEO) and the renewable energy trust fund has not yet been implemented. In addition, the DOE should formally issue its FIT policy for the remaining under-reserved capacity for power plants over water and biombad, "said Gatchalian

RPS requires distribution companies to s to supply renewable energy.

REM is a market for the negotiation of renewable energy certificates (RECs) under the Green Energy Options and Renewable Energy Systems (GEOP) program which allows end users to choose renewable sources of energy for their energy needs. GEO) allows end-users to choose renewable energy resources for their energy needs

The law also provides for the creation of the RE Trust Fund, which will be used primarily for research, development, demonstration and demonstration. promotion of renewable energies. 19659002] The sources of the fund include the proceeds of emission rights collected from all production facilities in accordance with RA 8749 or the Philippine Clean Air Act. .

This also includes percentage of the annual net income of the PCSO; 1.5 per cent of the annual net income of Pagcor; 1.5 per cent of the net annual dividends paid to the National Treasury of Philippine National Oil Co. and its subsidiaries; and 1.5% of the proceeds from the government from the development and use of non-renewable indigenous resources.

It can also come from contributions, grants and donations net of taxes, revenues generated by the use of RETF and DOE's undersecretary, Felix William Fuentebella, said that the The agency had up to now issued RPS for both network and off-line rules.

The Philippines has failed miserably to achieve its goal The DOE report indicates that RE's installed capacity was 4,799 MW in 2002 and that it increased only 47% to 7,079 MW MW at the end of 2017. She said that the country continues to be heavily dependent on coal energy and imported coal.

[ad_2]
Source link