Renewable portfolio standards help usher in new era of RE dev’t
ON Dec. 22, 2017, Department of Energy (DoE) signed the landmark Department Circular No. 2017-12-0015 promulgating the “Rules and Guidelines Governing the Establishment of the Renewable Portfolio Standards RPS for On- Grid Areas” or the “RPS OnGrid Rules.”
The RPS On- Grid Rules marks an elementary shift in energy policy by the DoE from the previous race-to-the-finish feed-in tariff ( FiT) eligibility program to a more calculated system that seeks to further scale up the utilization of indigenous renewable energy resources in the Philippines. Impelled by its desire to grow the country’s renewable energy sector, the National Renewable Energy Board set a mission to complete the draft RPS rules in 2017 through various public consultations that served as basis for the DoE to finally issue the RPS On- Grid Rules.
A REVISIT OF SUCCESS AND HURDLES
As early as the 1970s, the Philippines recognized that importance of renewable energy as a countermeasure to the rising oil prices in the world market. Where once it was heavily reliant on imported fossil fuels to meet its power requirements, the Philippines became the second largest producer of geothermal energy.
With fragmented pieces of executive issuances, the Philippines also successfully tapped its water resources to build large hydro dams and mini- hydro power plants. Decades later, with the passage of Republic Act No. 9513, known as the “Renewable Energy Act of 2008” or “RE Law,” the Philippines achieved more milestones in renewable energy development becoming the largest producer of wind and solar energy in Southeast Asia.
The Philippines provided the first blueprint and model for its neighbors with the release of the National Renewable Energy Program ( NREP) in May 2011 as a component part of the RE Law. The NREP represents the government’s unbending covenant to carve out a clear direction towards the development of emerging technologies in the renewable energy fields. The NREP provides the guidepost that puts premium to climate protection policies and secures renewable energy supply for an endless period of time. The NREP served as the government’s commitment to increase renewable energy capacities to achieve legitimate ends of sustainable development.
To implement NREP, the DoE aggressively pursued the award of renewable energy service contracts to various developers and approved two mechanisms: the FiT system and the Net-Metering Program in 2012.