DOE endorses 14 RE projects for FIT eligibility

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) has endorsed 14 renewable energy projects to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) as eligible for the feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme.

The move is part of efforts to promote renewable energy (RE) in the country.

The projects – five biomass facilities, three hydropower plants, two solar plants and four wind farms – have also been issued certificates of endorsements (COE) and have a total FIT capacity of 304.051 megawatts, according to the DOE.

FIT is a set of incentives given to RE players. Under this system, RE companies are entitled to the following FIT rates: P9.68 per kwh for solar power, P8.53 per kwh for wind and P5.90 per kwh for run-of-river hydroelectric power.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla is encouraging the development of more RE projects, saying the application process has been shortened to nearly 45 days from 100 days previously.

He said since last year, the DOE has been increasing the number of projects given COEs.

“This trend reflects the behavior of the energy sector as well as the entrance of new technologies that simplifies the construction of RE facilities,” Petilla said.

The DOE said with the acceleration in the processing period, more private companies are expressing interest in developing potential RE areas in the country.

The biomass projects given COEs are the 19-MW bagasse-fired cogeneration facility of Green Future Innovations Inc. with FIT capacity of three MW; the 14.8-MW Montalban landfill methane recovery and power generation facility of Montalban Methane Power Corp., with FIT capacity of 2.175 MW; the 1.2-MW Payatas landfill methane recovery and power generation facility of Pangea Green Energy Philippines Inc., with FIT capacity of 0.876 MW; the 3.6-MW biomass gasification plant of Lucky PPH International Inc. with a FIT capacity of 3.60 MW and the 24-MW San Jose City rice husk-fired biomass plant of San Jose City I Power Corp. with FIT capacity of 9.9 MW.

The hydropower projects that received COEs are the Irisan 1 hydroelectric plant of Hedcor Inc. with FIT capacity of 3.8 MW; the Tudaya 2 hydroelectric plant, also by Hedcor with FIT capacity of seven MW; and the Commonal Uddiawan hydroelectric power plant of Smith Bell Mini Hydro Corp. with FIT capacity of 1.80 MW.

For solar projects, the DOE has issued COEs to the San Carlos power project Phase A of San Carlos Solar Energy Inc. with FIT capacity of 13 MW and San Carlos power project Phase B of the same company with FIT capacity of nine MW.

Wind projects that received COEs are the Bangui Bay wind power project Phase 3 of Northwind Power Development Corp. with FIT capacity of 18.9 MW; the Burgos Wind Project Phase 1 of Energy Development Corp. with FIT capacity of 87 MW; the Burgos wind project Phase 2, also of EDC with FIT capacity of 63 MW and the Caparispisan wind power project of North Luzon Renewable Energy Corp. with FIT capacity of 81 MW.

Petilla said the DOE would continue to monitor the FIT applications alongside its campaign for sustainable development.