Gov’t mulls higher wind power targets

MANILA, Philippines - The government will look into the possibility of raising installation targets for wind power projects to beef up power capacity in the country, the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) said.

NREB is the advisory body tasked with the effective implementation of renewable energy projects in the country.

NREB chairman Pedro Maniego Jr. said there might be adjustments once commercial operation dates of ongoing plants become definite.

“The Department of Energy (DOE) and NREB will study possible installation target adjustment later this year, once the commercial operation dates of the ongoing wind projects are definite. The wind proponents must also show that their projects will be quick to deploy like solar, so as to augment the power supply and thus moderate the increase in WESM prices during peak demand periods,” Maniego said.

WESM, or the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, is the country’s trading floor for electricity.

The current installation target for wind is 200 megawatts (MW).

However, at this point, there are still no adjustments for wind installation targets.

For solar, the DOE has already issued the certification adjusting total solar installation target to 500 MW from 50 MW. The department has transmitted this to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), last week.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said there is a need to fill in the capacity gap that was supposed to come in next year, and that the best solution would be the construction of more solar power plants.

The government may also lower the feed-in tariff (FIT) rate for solar to a range of P8.50 to P9.68 per kilowatt-hour.

The FIT regime is a form of incentives for renewable energy players.

Feed-in tariffs offer cost-based compensation to renewable energy players, among other perks.

The FIT rate approved by the ERC, the power regulator, are as follows: P9.68 per kilowatt-hour for solar; P8.53 per kwh for wind, P6.63 per kwh for biomass and P5.90 per kwh for hydropower projects.