4 renewal energy projects get FIT payments

Four renewable energy (RE) developers are starting to collect on pre-set energy rates under the Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) system, said officials of National Transmission Corp. (Transco), which manages the fund for FIT payments.

Transco president Rolando Bacani said on the sidelines of an energy conference that Zabaleta-led and European-funded San Carlos Solar Energy (SaCaSol) was the first ever RE developer to get incentives.

There are three others that have started collecting guaranteed rates under FIT, he added.

TransCo FIT All team head Dina Dizon said the other three were the Lopez-led Energy Development Corp.’s Burgos wind project, the Ayala-led, 19-MW wind farm expansion in Bangui, under Northwind Power Development Corp. (Northwind), and another Ayala project, North Luzon Renewable Energy Corp.’s 81-MW wind farm in Caparispisan, Pagudpud.

The FIT payment to SaCaSol was made last May 5 “covering the FIT differential for June 2014 and March 2015 billing periods.”

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) issued FIT certificates to Sacasol’s 13-MW Phase 1A and 9-MW Phase 1B that entitled these projects to the FIT rate of P9.68, “subject to adjustment as may be approved by the ERC, from 15 May 2014 to 14 May 2034.”

The wind projects, meanwhile, are entitled to a FIT rate of P8.53 per kilowatt hour (kwh) also for 20 years.

Transco makes FIT payments to eligible RE firms every fifth day of the month for energy produced in the previous month.

The certificates for SaCaSol were issued on Feb. 16. The issuance marks the beginning of Sacasol’s Renewable Energy Purchase Agreement (REPA) and its eligibility for RE incentives under the FIT system.

Sacasol Phase IA and IB began their commercial operation in May and August 2014 respectively.

Distribution utilities such as Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and electricity cooperatives started collecting FIT charges last February.

The February 2015 billing of Meralco reflected the new FIT-All (Renewable) charge of P0.04 per kWh, a uniform charge that will be billed to all on-grid electricity consumers nationwide in support of the Feed-in-Tariff Program.

The FIT-All charge will form part of the fund that TransCo will use to pay the FIT-eligible RE developers for the energy they will produce. The FIT program is required under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.

Experts said FIT would benefit consumers over the long term because it was supportive of the development of RE power generation plants, which were relatively quick-built and tend to stabilize power prices over time.

As to whether FIT-All serves the public during spot market surges in times of tight supply, experts said it was a self-correcting mechanism where any windfall due to high spot market rates in certain billing periods was retained in the fund to allow for tempered rate increases in the succeeding periods.