Renewable Energy in Phillipines – NREB sets ambitious 830 MW in 3 Years with High Feed in Tariffs Subsidies

Phillipines is heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels for its energy requirements as it lacks sufficient domestic resources of coal or oil.The country which already has a flourishing geothermal energy industry is looking to raise the alternative energy generation from other sources like biomass,hydro,solar and wind energy as well.The country’s Energy Regulator National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) has recommended a target of 830 megawatts (MW) as the total allowed capacity of the renewable energy facilities that will be put up in the country over the next three years.

The specific targets for different forms of Renewable Energy has been set as

1) 50 MW Hydropower

2) 250 MW Biomass

3) 100 MW Solar

4) 220 MW Wind

5) 10 MW Tidal,Wave

The Feed in Tariffs for Renewable Energy have been set at a high level to attract Green Investors with an equity return target of 16% for Renewable Energy Investors.Note NREB has accepted that these prices will lead to increased electricity rates as theFIT are higher than neighbouring South  East Asian Nations like Thailand and Malaysia which have set their own FIT mechanisms to promote Renewable Energy.Note Solar Energy in Thailand has been promoted by a FIT known as a Solar Adder while Malaysia has a Renewable Energy Law modeled on Germany.

FIT Rates in Philippines for different Clean Energy Sources (Solar,Wind,Hydro,Biomass)

1) Solar Energy –  P17/KwH (37c/Kwh)

2) Wind Energy – P10 /Kwh ( 22c/Kwh)

3) Biomass Energy – P 6.5/KwH ( 14c/KwH)

4) Run of River Hydro Energy – P6/Kwh ( 13c/Kwh)

FiT Allowance charges will be implemented January 2012, the conclusion of the initial period will be December 31, 2014.

Renewable energy companies hit capacity caps set by gov’t

The National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) has recommended a target of 830 megawatts (MW) as the total allowed capacity of the renewable energy facilities that will be put up in the country over the next three years.Based on the group’s recommendations, NREB head Pedro Maniego Jr. confirmed in a phone interview that only 250 MW in new installations would be allowed for hydropower facilities, 250 MW for biomass, 100 MW for solar, 220 MW for wind and 10 MW for ocean resources.However, local renewable energy developers remained “dismayed” at the recommended installation targets as these would effectively put a cap on the proposed renewable energy projects—a move that could derail the planned investments in the sector, according to Theresa Cruz-Capellan, president of the Philippine Solar Power Alliance (PSPA).