In picture: Citicore Power unveils first solar farm in Luzon and the second in the country. ©1Bataan
Citicore Power Inc. is venturing into retail electricity market following the Philippines’ participation in the Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) scheme.
Citicore Energy Solutions Inc. (CESI), the newly approved Retail Electricity Supplier (RES) representing Citicore, will be offering its renewable energy services as a “cleaner” alternative for its contestable market.
“CESI is confident of being at par with its counterparts in the next few years given its technical expertise, competitive tariff rates, and broad range of customers-friendly services,” Citicore said, addressing its supplier role as a way educate consumers on switching to renewable power sources, reducing carbon footprint and the RCOA agenda in the country.
Citicore secured its RES license from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) last January 30 and has since actively entertaining potential consumers.
The power company currently operates three large-scale solar powerhouses: the 60-megawatt (MW) First Toledo Solar Energy Corp. in Cebu, the 25-MW Silay Solar Power Inc. in Negros Occidental and the 18-MW Next Generation Power Technology in Bataan.
It has also partnered with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. for its solar business development totaling 500-MW in Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar by 2020.
Under RCOA, RES-approved energy suppliers from power companies are allowed to provide electricity directly to respective contestable markets as mandated by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001.
Luzon and Visayas, which have the biggest market population, are the mainstream contestable customers and have the power of choice in their electricity provider.
A requirement of at least 1-MW consumable are allowed to choose their supplier on a voluntary basis.
Customers with a peak demand of 1-MW are mandated to shift to RCOA beginning February 26, 2017 while those with at least 750-kilowatt are scheduled on June 26, 2017.