AC Energy concurs with the proposal of the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) to adjust minimum level of electricity contracted from renewable energy (RE) developers.
AC Energy President and CEO Eric Francia said that if necessary changes are made, then the country could hit its target of sourcing 35% of electricity from RE by 2030.
He particularly agrees with the NREB’s view that the country’s current Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) level of 1% should go up to 2.5% by 2023 or 2024.
RPS requires distribution utilities like the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) to source one percent of their power supply from eligible RE sources like biomass, geothermal energy, hydroelectric power systems, ocean energy, solar energy, waste-to-energy technology, and wind energy.
NREB Chairman Monalisa Dimalanta had proposed to keep that level at one percent until 2022, before increasing it to 2.52% moving forward. Based on her earlier calculations, she projects RE to comprise 37.3% of the country’s energy mix by 2030 and almost 56% by 2040.
The NREB’s proposal, however, has yet to reach the leadership of the Department of Energy.
In 2019, the share of RE in the country’s generation mix stood at 20.8 percent from 23.38 percent in 2018. Coal continues to dominate the mix at 54.6 percent , followed by gas at 21.1 percent and oil at 3.5 percent.
The country’s RE goals have yet to be fully achieved ten years after the passage of Republic Act 9513 or the Renewable Energy Act.
Francia said the company’s RE future projects are in line with the RPS policy. He, however, is concerned about the delays related to the bidding process, which could also delay the commercial operation of the power facilities.
