Philippines has increased the cap for solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) installations in its feed-in tariff from 50 MW to 500 MW.
Citing a flood of project applications, the Philippines has increased the cap for solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) installations in its feed-in tariff from 50 MW to 500 MW.
The nation’s Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is also formulating amendments to the feed-in tariff, and is seeking comments on these amendments on or by June 13th, 2014.
The feed-in tariff will sunset in March 2015, however PV and CSP plants that do not quality for the feed-in tariff will still receive priority on the grid, and may either enter into supply contracts or trade directly on the spot market.
The Philippines Department of Energy (DOE) notes that due to short construction timelines PV can play an important role in helping to alleviate power supply shortages in the summers of 2015 and 2016, particularly to meet daytime peak demand.
Applications for 978 MW of solar projects approved
Through April 2014, the DOE has approved applications for 52 solar electric projects with a combined capacity of 978 MW, including 29 applications for 557 MW of capacity from November 2012 to April 2014.
The agency did not give a breakdown of how many CSP and PV projects were approved, however the few projects that Solar Server has reported on in the nation have all been PV. DOE also notes that two solar projects totaling 62 MW are nearing completion.
The Philippines’ feed-in tariff was set at PHP 9.68 (USD 0.22) per kWh in July 2012, with a 6% degression annually. That puts current feed-in tariff rates at PHP 9.10 (USD 0.21) per kWh through July 2014, and PHP 8.55 (USD 0.20) per kWh for the next year.
