Coming up with an energy mix policy should be among the priorities of the Philippine government in order to shield consumers from price surges affecting specific power plant fuels like coal, Lopez-led First Gen Corp.’s top official said. The call was made as prices of coal, the dominant fuel for Philippine power plants, have turned…
Month: November 2016
Solar farms not covered by land conversion ban
The proposed two-year moratorium on land conversion on farm areas would not be a problem for solar power plants since these power facilities can still accommodate agriculture products planted beneath the panels, a solar advocate said yesterday. While solar plants need expanse land, solar farms have idle land beneath the solar panel installations which could…
Expanded Bat-Man sole energy project in PPP pipeline
A Single energy project is expected under the public-private partnership (PPP) program, which is an expanded version of the earlier Batangas-Manila Natural Gas Pipeline project, the PPP Center’s top official said. The Bat-Man project is still being processed under the PPP program, PPP Center executive director Ferdinand Pecson said in an interview on the sidelines…
DMCI Power invests P3.5 B for off-grid projects
Off-grid energy producer DMCI Power Corp. has invested P3.5 billion worth of power projects in missionary areas in the last six years. DMCI Power president Nestor Dadivas said the investments were made from 2010 to 2016, covering four small-scale diesel and bunker-fired facilities in Masbate (July 2010), Palawan (December 2012), Oriental Mindoro (2016) and Sultan…
Cusi outlines Philippines LNG roadmap in Japan forum
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has outlined the country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) roadmap to Japanese investors to encourage investments in the sector. Cusi, who is currently in Japan to attend the LNG Producer-Consumer Conference 2016, encouraged the international community to tighten partnerships in further developing and promoting the LNG industry, especially in the Philippines. “As…
Mindanao now enjoys power supply surplus
Mindanao is now enjoying electricity supply surplus and is working to sustain the development of power resources with renewable energy (RE) beyond 2020, a ranking official said. The energy surplus is on account of the entry of baseload plants, particularly coal fired facilities that have come online starting this year and will continue in 2017…
ERC head seeks audience with Duterte
The head of the Energy Regulatory Commission said Thursday he was seeking a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte, who threatened to abolish the agency due to alleged corruption. ERC Chairman Jose Vicente Salazar said he would brief the President about his reform initiatives in the government body that supervises the power industry. Read more here.
First Gen clean energy plants can lower consumer electricity bills–group
Two new plants in Batangas generate clean energy that can lower the bills of Manila Electric Company Meralco subscribers and in turn help grow the manufacturing industry, an electronics group said Friday. Two facilities in Santa Rita, a 414-megawatt MW San Gabriel combined-cycle plant and a 97-MW Avion open cycle natural gas-fired plant, were inaugurated…
Two solar projects lose FiT eligibility
THE Department of Energy (DoE) has confirmed talk that two solar energy projects previously endorsed to receive a guaranteed fixed rate for their power output were recommended for exclusion from the feed-in-tariff (FiT) scheme. Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said the department had received the recommendation of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on how to…
Power cost seen rising next year due to FIT-All
Consumers will pay for higher power rates next year, or once the Energy Regulatory Commission approves the “close to P0.23 per kilowatt-hour” feed-in tariff application of National Transmission Corp. TransCo is set to file its feed-in tariff allowance application to the ERC next week. Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, who sits on the TransCo board, told…
Senate resolution seeks probe into PSALM dividend non-remittance
THE Senate has asked state agency Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) to explain the non-remittance of P27.28 billion in dividends to the national government, which it said covered the “past decade.” “PSALM must provide a detailed accounting of its liabilities to the national government and give a satisfactory explanation as to why…
Meralco clarifies issues vs power supply deals
MANILA ELECTRIC Co. (Meralco) has issued a statement on Tuesday clarifying questions raised against its recent power supply agreements (PSAs) with various power generation companies after the death of an executive at the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). William S. Pamintuan, Meralco’s lead lawyer, said the PSAs were filed by the company in accordance with ERC…
Winnergy Holdings Corp. 