The Department of Energy (DOE), German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and other partners are collaborating on a training program that will simplify the implementation of renewable energy (RE) electrification for off-grid areas or sites that are not physically connected to the main grid.

The energy department announced that series of training workshops had been carried out to enhance the capacity of industry participants – mainly those from Manila, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro, in terms of disentangling complexities on the planning processes for off-grid energization. This was done via the “Clean, Affordable and Secure Energy for Southeast Asia” (CASE Philippines) program supported by the GIZ, in coordination with the Reiner Lemoine Institut (RLI).

According to the DOE, the CASE program is a regional initiative which engaged the participation of international and local expert organizations, so they can aid the domestic power industry on strategies that will advance sustainable energy transformation and in pursuing solutions to climate change perils.

With the enforcement of a simplified planning tool (SPT), the energy department is aiming that the relevant industry players would gain capacity “in planning and implementing” compliance plans to the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) or the policy prescribing that warranted percentage of supply procured by the distribution utilities (DUs) and retail electricity suppliers (RES) shall be sourced from RE facilities.

The DOE stated that at least 143 participants had joined the series of training activities. They came from the leagues of off-grid distribution utilities (DUs), generation companies as well as from as government-run energy entities, primarily the National Electrification Administration,  National Transmission Corporation, and representatives from the energy department.

As explained, “the SPT is a Microsoft Excel planning tool that was developed by RLI under the guidance of (the) DOE to determine the optimal hybrid system configuration per off-grid area under varied conditions.”

In reality though, mounting challenges still shackle flow of capital for projects that can escalate energization of many off-grid domains; and the toughest ones cannot just be overcome by computer-aided planning instruments.

Through the years, the government and the industry players have been failing in achieving accelerated electrification targets for the off-grid sites, but this time, DOE is leaning on RPS-mandated RE technology deployments as its trump card to finally shore up energization of these relatively forsaken areas.