THE Confederation of Solar Developers of the Philippines is pushing for a new concept in lieu of a third round of feedin tariff to support the sector, an industry official said over the weekend.
CSDP president Reynaldo Casas told reporters the move would ensure the sustainability of the solar industry while government debated on whether to issue a new round of installation target and feed-in tariff for solar or not.
“The issue of a third FIT is another dimension. CSDP has crafted a concept that we will advocate to the regulatory bodies in lieu of a third FIT—it’s like a principle of auctioning but more regionally. It’s a different concept altogether,” he said.
The feed-in tariff is a form of incentive to renewable energy developers as it charges a fixed rate per technology source over a 20-year period.
“We have the framework. It’s subject to more validation. We need to validate the concept with regulatory bodies,” he said.
CSDP, whose member power plants produce a total of 543 MW of solar electricity and with a combined investment of P45 billion, will formalize and present the concept paper in January.
“We are in a hurry because we want to make sure the industry is not in a frozen state as it is today. Nobody’s moving,” Casas said.
Around 300 MW of solar capacity set to be built to meet the March 15, 2016 deadline of the Energy Department were not endorsed for feed-in tariff availment.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, meanwhile, wants to review the Renewable Energy Law passed in 2008 to determine its impact on the electricity consuming public.
Gatchalian said the RE Law had been existing for over five years “and it’s about time to review this law.”
The Joint Congressional Power Commission is tasked to review the RE Law.
“Let’s not veer away from the original intention of the law, which is to decrease carbon emissions. We have reduced our carbon emissions,” he said.
Gatchalian, who heads the Senate Committee on Energy, said the government should now look at how the reduction impact to the ordinary consumers.
“We have to review this. Right now, there is no intensive review, whether the intention of the law and the social benefit to Juan dela Cruz is being met,” he said.
Gatchalian said he would convene with his committee next month to initiate the review.
“I talked to the counterpart in the lower house, this January we will be convening the JCPC and we will also review the Epira and the RE law. Not only the provisions of the law, the effect of the law to our constituents,” he said.
The passage of the RE Law ushered the entry of thousands of megawatts of renewable energy projects under the feed-in tariff scheme.