ERC clears feed-in tariff adjustments

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has approved long-pending adjustments to feed-in tariff (FIT) rates covering 2021 to 2025, allowing eligible renewable energy plants to recover authorized amounts over a five-year period beginning in 2026.

In a statement, the ERC said the adjustments apply to FIT-eligible plants under the renewable energy program established to spur investments in clean power generation.

“The approval marks the first adjustment to the FIT scheme since 2020,” ERC chair Francis Saturnino Juan said. “It underscores our commitment to uphold and ensure the success of the FIT System as enshrined in the Renewable Energy (RE) Act.”

The rates were approved pursuant to the FIT System Rules, which mandate periodic recalculation to account for factors such as inflation, foreign exchange movements and operational costs.

Under the approved adjustments, biomass plants that entered the FIT system in 2014 and 2015 will see their rates set at P7.0655 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for 2021, P6.9609 in 2022, P7.3298 in 2023, P7.9363 in 2024 and P8.1259 in 2025.

For run-of-river hydro projects from the same FIT round, the ERC approved rates of P6.1747 per kWh in 2021, P6.1404 in 2022, P6.4514 in 2023, P6.9714 in 2024 and P7.1626 in 2025.

Solar plants that qualified in 2014 will have adjusted FITs of P10.5513 per kWh in 2021, P10.2758 in 2022, P10.8507 in 2023, P11.7776 in 2024 and P12.0074 in 2025.

Meanwhile, wind projects from the same period will receive rates of P9.1940 in 2021, P9.0053 in 2022, P9.4960 in 2023, P10.2946 in 2024 and P10.5178 in 2025.

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The ERC noted that the approved rates cover only specific FIT rounds, with adjustments for other eligible plants detailed in a separate resolution.

The FIT mechanism, introduced under the RE Act of 2008, guarantees fixed rates for electricity generated from renewable sources such as solar, wind, biomass and hydropower.

The system was designed to encourage early investments in renewable energy by providing developers with predictable revenues.