MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Energy has issued the much awaited guidelines in the selection and awarding of certificates for renewable energy projects that will be found eligible for feed-in-tariff rates.
According to a May 28 circular signed by Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla, the DOE will still apply the “first come, first served” policy in allocating the 760-megawatt installation target for renewable energy (RE) projects.
This policy means that upon the project’s declaration of commerciality, a developer must race against other project proponents in building his own renewable energy facility before he can be awarded an allocation and be declared eligible to avail himself of a fixed cash flow over a 20-year period via the feed-in-tariff rate structure.
Based on the circular, the DOE will have to complete the processing of the declaration of commerciality (DOC) within 30 working days upon receipt of necessary documents from proponents. Upon the issuance of the certificate confirming the commerciality of a project, the DOE must issue an endorsement to National Grid Corp. of the Philippines for interconnection requirements, such as the grid impact study and interconnection agreement.
Once the developer has completed 80 percent of construction, as may be determined from the proponent’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, he can file for electromechanical completion before the DOE.
The DOE will then issue the confirmation or denial of the electromechanical completion not later than 15 working days from the last day of site validation, the circular stated.
In the event the DOE confirms the electromechanical completion of the renewable energy project, the agency will nominate the eligibility of the project under the FIT system to the Energy Regulatory Commission, which will then process the application for certificate of compliance (COC).
A COC is a pre-requisite to the commencement of the commercial operations of a power generation plant. It is valid for five years and must be renewed six months prior to its expiration. A COC also helps ensure that power plant operators will deliver electricity in a clean, safe, dependable and sustainable manner.
The RE developer will then inform the DOE of the date of successful commissioning of the power facility. Once validated, the DOE will issue a certificate of endorsement for FIT eligibility to the ERC.
The DOE will issue the COE until the maximum installation target per technology is subscribed. In cases of oversubscription, the project proponent must notify the DOE of its option, which may include entering into a bilateral agreement or selling to the wholesale electricity spot market.