Cusi orders RE blueprint for 20,000 megawatts fast-tracked
By Myrna M. Velasco – July 30, 2020, 10:00 PM
from Manila Bulletin
The Renewable Energy Management Bureau (REMB) of the Department of Energy (DOE) has been directed to speed up the crafting of the investment blueprint for the targeted 20,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity for the country.
In particular, Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi ordered subalterns “to prioritize the completion of the National Renewable Energy Plan (NREP),” that will then guide interested investors on the 2020-2040 RE installation goal of the Philippines.
The energy chief noted that the last NREP covered the period 2011-2030, hence, its updating “is already long overdue,” taking into account the investment landscape recasting and the different circumstances when that initial plan was concretized 10 years ago.
In Cusi’s assessment, “there is a need to fast-track the NREP to help the country achieve the goals set forth in the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.”
From an investment regime that had been initially incentivized by feed-in-tariffs (FITs), the next policy trajectory of the government is to roll out its Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) to underpin the next round of capital flow in the RE sector.
The RPS is a policy that requires distribution firms to source prescribed percentage of their supply from RE-generated sources, hence, ensuring a market for developers in that segment of the industry.
The subsequent 2020-2040 NREP, according to the energy department, will introduce paradigm shift via the RE systems — categorized in three baskets — that shall be integrated into the blueprint.
The first one will rope in consumers plus RE systems, and this is anchored on “encouraging the development of RE systems to be utilized by consumers in the agriculture and fisheries, as well as health and education sectors.”
“This basket aims to maximize the integration of battery, as well as other energy storage systems and information communication technology,” the DOE explained.
The second basket will be a three-pronged development strategy comprising of the consumer plus RE system and the distribution utility. This investment approach leans on the promotion of the net metering program, which in essence, will pave the way for the emergence of “prosumers” – or consumers that will also be producing their own electricity; and if there is excess, they can inject that supply back to the grid.
The last basket will fuse together the consumer with the RE system plus the distribution utility and then the system and market operation facets of the deregulated electricity sector. Under this investment paradigm, the DOE is eyeing to accelerate compliance to various programs and rules in the industry – such as the Green Energy Option Program (GEOP); Green Energy Auction Policy, RE Market and the country’s journey into the smart grid span.
Through the updating and institutionalization of a new RE plan, the DOE noted that it is “looking at developing all possible energy sources,” and to enhance also the capacity of the domestic power industry in keeping pace with the advancement in technologies in their respective power installations.
