The Philippine Solar and Storage Energy Alliance (PSSEA) finds the rate recommended by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on consumers of floating solar technology under the second Green Energy Auction (GEA-2) as uncommercial.
The group said the ERC’s suggested rate of P4.7565 per kilowatt hour (kWh) for floating solar is too low for the proponents and want it upped to at least P7.3661 per kWh to remain feasible.
Under GEA-2, renewable energy producers compete for incentivized fixed-power rates by offering the lowest price for a given capacity.
But the PSSEA said in a position paper that unlike ground-mounted solar panels, floating solar projects incur additional construction and operations costs, including but not limited to installation of floaters as well as anchoring and mooring systems.
The group also calls on the ERC to remove solar energy service contracts as a requisite for solar developers as the Department of Energy has suspended the issuance of service contracts and has been issuing operating contracts instead to solar developers.
Tetchi Cruz-Capellan, chief executive officer at Sun Asia Energy, a member of PSSEA, is “thankful” to the ERC-recognized floating solar technology’s inherent difference from ground-mounted technology.
“That’s a good step but I think they have to understand that in order to open the doors to make floating solar commercial, they have to extend high tariffs so that the pioneer who is going to absorb all the different problems in the first set is compensated.”
Tetchi Cruz-Capellan, chief executive officer at Sun Asia Energy
Capellan said this is similar to when the feed-in-tariff was first introduced in the country when the first set of renewable energy investors were provided with higher tariffs but significantly lowered in the succeeding rounds when more developers were interested.
Under GEA-2, 300 megawatts worth of floating solar projects may participate but these projects must be completed before 2026 to qualify.
Contracts are for 20 years beginning from date of commercial operation.
