Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla leads a high level delegation of energy officials from 31 March to 4 April 2014 for a renewable energy (RE) integration study in Germany.
Among those joining the delegation are House Committee on Energy Chair Congressman Reynaldo Umali and Climate Change Commission Vice Chair Lucille Sering, as well as officials and representatives from the DOE, National Transmission Corporation, Energy Regulatory Commission, National Renewable Energy Board, Philippine Electricity Market Corporation, and National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
“It is a great opportunity for us to learn about Germany’s more than 20 years of experience on integrating RE in the electricity market,” said Secretary Petilla, adding that the strong cooperation on RE integration between the two countries will help pave the way for the advancement of the renewable energy market in the Philippines.
Secretary Petilla and his delegation will be meeting with high-level representatives of the German Government to get firsthand information on German renewable energy policy. The Secretary will further discuss the grid and market integration of renewable energy with the regional grid operator 50hertz as well as Germany’s electricity stock market operator European Energy Exchange.
The bilateral encounter in Germany is likewise expected to provide highly-relevant information on the market design for renewable energy and help render the policy guidelines for the integration of renewable energies in the Philippines.
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) organized the Germany visit as part of its technical assistance program, “Support of the Climate Change Commission“, funded under the International Climate Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB).
At present, the Philippines has a total RE installation of 5,521 megawatts in capacity, which the DOE targets to be tripled by 2030. In accordance with the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, the DOE will be granting priority grid access and must-dispatch for renewable energies by the second quarter of this year.
GIZ recently helped the DOE launch the Net Metering guidebook that will serve as a reference for electricity consumers who intend to use RE technologies to power up their homes or buildings to help lower their power cost as well as secure their energy needs.
The DOE emphasizes its commitment to accelerate the development of the country's RE resources through the establishment of a FIT system for electricity produced from RE sources, which among other initiatives, will help bolster the DOE’s thrust for a more diversified energy mix and sustainable and sufficient energy supply in the future.