THE chairperson of the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) yesterday urged all stakeholders in the power sector to reduce or prevent the use of coal and diesel in power generating plants.
In a public consultation on the Renewable Energy Market (REM), NREB Chairperson Jose M. Layug Jr. said that the board wants that the Philippines will not rely only on imported coal and diesel, but will use renewable energy more.
Renewable energy can be sourced in the country from wind, solar, hydro dam and geothermal, which are cleaner sources of power.
He said imported coal and diesel are not only causing pollution, but will also drain the country’s dollar reserves.
Layug said the REM refers to the market where renewable energy (RE) certificates equivalent to the amount of power generated from RE resources can be traded.
He explained that the Renewable Energy Act was passed by Congress in 2008 and it is very clear that the Philippines must promote RE sources.
“There are several mechanisms provided in the law and one of that is the (set of) renewable performing standards, which provides that all distribution utilities and electric cooperatives must show to the Department of Energy (DOE) that their contracts include RE,” said Layug.
Republic Act (RA) 9513 (the law promoting the development, use and commercialization of renewable energy resources) also provides for the establishment of REM. DOE is supposed to direct the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) to incorporate changes in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) rules for the operation of REM under the WESM.
Section 10 of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of RA 9513 provides that REM shall be a sub-market of WESM.
Layug added that the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) require electricity suppliers to source an agreed-upon portion of their energy supply from eligible RE resources.
After the consultations in various of the country, Layug said that DOE will review the results and they hope that it will be finally approved by January 2018. (EOB)