The Energy Regulatory Commission approved the application of three operational wind power projects to obtain a new feed-in-tariff rate of P7.40 per kilowatt-hour.
ERC said it limited the grant of the second wave of feed-in tariff to the three projects with a total capacity of 144 megawatts to mitigate the impact of higher power rates on consumers.
ERC, in its decision, identified the projects as Trans-Asia Renewable Energy Corp.’s 54 megawatt San Lorenzo wind power project in Guimaras, PetroWind Energy Inc.’s 36-MW Nabas wind project in Aklan and Alternergy Wind One Corp.’s 54-MW Pililla wind power project in Rizal.
The three projects are now eligible for the new feed-in tariff rate of P7.40 per kWh, which was lower than the P7.93 per kWh sought by the National Renewable Energy Board for the second batch of wind installation targets.
ERC earlier approved an FIT rate of P8.53 per kWh for three wind projects under the first wave of installation targets. These projects included Energy Development Corp.’s 150-MW Burgos wind project in Ilocos Norte, Northwind Power Development Corp.’s 18.9-MW phase 3 wind project in Ilocos Norte and North Luzon Renewable Energy Corp’s 81-MW Caparispisan wind project also in Ilocos Norte.
ERC said it granted a lower FIT rate under the second wave amid the recent developments in wind technology such as efficiency levels of wind turbine and its evaluation on what would be the reasonable updated level of the FIT for the second batch of eligible wind projects.
“Mindful of the impact that the changes in the installation targets of RE generation would have on the feed-in tariff allowance that is collected from all on-grid connected consumers, the commission hereby limits the entitlement of wind FIT 2 to the three wind power projects which have commenced commercial operations as certified by the DoE [Department of Energy],” it said.
Trans-Asia started commercial operations of its wind project in December last year while Alternergy and PetroWind started commercial operations on June 9 and June 10, 2015, respectively.
The 144-MW wind projects eligible for the feed-in tariff brought the total capacity of eligible wind projects to 393.9 MW, or 6.1 MW short of the total approved 400-MW installation target.
The Energy Department earlier increased the installation target for wind under the FIT system to 400 MW from 200 MW.
The department said the treatment of capacity in excess of installation target considered the technical and commercial indivisibility of RE projects. The last RE project shall be considered eligible for FIT endorsement for its total installed capacity if a portion of its capacity fills in the balance of the corresponding installation target, it said.
ERC said that based on the indivisibility rule of the department, it decided to limit the entitlement to three wind projects. “As for the FIT that will apply to whoever will take up the remaining 6.1 MW of the total wind installation target, the commission shall fix the same at a later time,” it said.