Solar PV Guidebook for Philippines

Introduction

In 2008, the Philippines enacted the Renewable Energy Act (RA 9513), opening the path for the expansion of renewable energies (RE) in the country. The Department of Energy (DOE) is committed to lay down the tracks for tripling the capacities of RE between 2010 and 2030 to 15,304 MW as outlined in the National Renewable Energy Program. Thus, the implementation of RE support mechanisms, such as feed-in tariff (FIT) and net-metering, is a top priority for DOE.

With an aspirational target of 1,528 MW until 2030, solar energy is meant to play a crucial role in the future energy mix of the Philippines. Presently, DOE underlined its commitment for solar energy in increasing the installation target for solar under the FIT system to 500 MW. With the FIT and the net-metering mechanisms in place, solar energy is expected to grow exponentially in the Philippines.

Solar PV Guidebook for Philippines

The Department of Energy (DOE) together with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH developed the Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) Guidebook to provide a clear overview of the administrative and regulatory requirements for on-grid solar PV project development in the Philippines.This project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB).

This Solar PV (SPV) Guidebook is meant to give guidance to SPV project developers as well as to decision makers within the Philippine energy sector and other stakeholders to ensure efficient administration and timely implementation of solar projects in the Philippines. Based on the Guidebook, recommendations for policymakers may be developed on how administrative procedures can be improved in order to increase private investment and market activity in the Philippine SPV sector.

Legal and administrative milestones as well as procedures are analyzed, which are necessary to fulfill the conditions for availing incentives and other privileges as specified in Chapter VII of the RE Act and in Sec. 18 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Renewable Energy Act (RA 9513). The SPV Guidebook for the Philippines will be integrated into the online database of the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE). ACE through the Renewable Energy Support Program (RESP) of GIZ is coordinating a regional undertaking to develop renewable energy (RE) guidelines in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The SPV Guidebook for the Philippines is catering to this effort and will be used by ACE for regional knowledge sharing.

Key Findings

• The administrative procedures for licensing and permitting of on-grid SPV in the Philippines is very tedious and costly.
• The publication also highlightst need to further adjusts the feed-in tariff and the net metering schemes by

►Introducing a flexible adjustment scheme for the degression of the FIT rate for on-grid SPV projects based on annual capacity additions.

►Introducing differentiated FIT rates according to the size of the project, potentially including small-scale SPV projects (below 100kWp) into the FIT system.

►Privileged permitting of on-grid SPV installations under the FIT on existing roofs (the applied procedure could be similar as today’s procedure for on-grid SPV installations under the net-metering scheme).

►Adjusting the refund for power exported from SPV installations under the net-metering to make private investments in SPV more attractive.

►Waiving the qualified end users obligation to pay for a distribution impact study for micro-scale on-grid SPV plants planned to be connected to the local distribution grid, for example, in the range below 20 kWp.

Download: Solar PV Guidebook for Philippines

Solar PV Guidebook Philippines 2014.pdf

Further Information

• Solar Portal on energypedia
• Philippines Energy Situation
• Philippines: Grid-connected Solar PV Hydro Hybrid Demonstration