Eligible RE firms may soon get FIT incentives

Regulators have released the templates for renewable energy (RE) deals, paving the way for the collection of the feed-in tariff (FIT) starting January 2015.

The renewable energy payment agreement (Repa) between the state administrator of the FIT fund and eligible RE plant operators, and the renewable energy supply agreement (Resa) between distribution utilities and RE plant operators will serve to facilitate transactions under the FIT system.

The FIT system guarantees all eligible renewable energy players an entitlement to the applicable rates for a 20-year period.

In a resolution, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said that “any Repa executed by the FIT-All fund administrator and the eligible RE plant that conforms to the template shall be deemed approved.”

Also, eligible renewable energy plants where the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market is not operational must enter into a Resa with the host distribution utility.

ERC executive director Francis Saturnino Juan said in a text message that the approval of the deal templates would enable the collection of FIT rates to be pooled in a fund, which would be used to provide incentives to pioneering RE developers through fixed rates.

The approved tariff rates are P5.90 per kilowatt-hour for run-of-river hydro; P6.63 per kWh for biomass; P8.53 per kWh for wind; and P9.68 per kWh for solar.

Juan also said that, under the Resa, the FIT-eligible RE could claim from the National Transmission Corp.—the FIT Allowance fund administrator—payment for its actual RE rate based on FIT.

The FIT Allowance, or FIT-All, is a uniform charge similar to the universal charge that is imposed on all consumers who are supplied with electricity through a distribution or transmission network.