Press Release
January 28, 2011

FEED-IN TARIFFS TO ENCOURAGE RENEWABLE ENERGY DEV'T IN RP

Senator Edgardo J. Angara, Chair of the Congressional Commission on Science Technology and Engineering (COMSTE) and sponsor of the Renewable Energy Law, said determining the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) rates would allow the Philippine renewable energy industry to grow.

The FIT is an incentive to encourage RE developers and investors to generate power from RE sources such as solar, wind, run-off river hydro, ocean and biomass. Once finalized, the FIT will guarantee developers specific prices for different types of RE technologies.

COMSTE, a non-voting member of the Board of the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB), continues to support the growth of the Renewable Energy (RE) industry development in the latest meeting of NREB held earlier today to discuss plans to address the issues facing the stipulations in the Renewable Energy law.

Angara stated that the commission has long been an advocate of RE in the country, with many of its projects involving other industries like semiconductors and electronics, to help stimulate growth in the local RE industry.

Angara highlighted two projects that have been prioritized for 2011 which would impact the RE initiatives of the country, namely the Industrial Research and Development Institute (IRDI) and the Renewable Energy Research and Development Institute (RERDI) that have been initiated by COMSTE.

COMSTE reports that the creation of these institutes would need government funding, which would go to applied research in key areas, in turn enabling innovation and creating new companies and new jobs. COMSTE said that funding for these projects can potentially come from the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Science and technology (DOST), and the Department of Energy (DOE) or other government entities.

The NREB has also requested that COMSTE technical experts be tapped to assist in matters such as the FIT, net metering, Green Energy Option (GEO) and other mechanisms that are necessary to implement the RE act of 2008.

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