Abstract
The industrial sector is a major contributor to the economic growth of the Philippines. However, it is also one of the top consumers of energy, which is produced mainly from fossil fuels. The Philippine industrial sector must therefore be supported economically while minimizing the emissions associated with energy consumption. A potential strategy for minimizing costs and emissions is the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules on the rooftops of industrial facilities, but this approach is hindered by existing energy policies in the country. In this work, we performed a techno-economic assessment on the implementation of rooftop solar PV in Philippine industrial facilities under different policy scenarios. Our study considered 139 randomly sampled industrial plants under MERALCO franchise area in the Philippines. Under the current net metering policy, 132 of the evaluated facilities were economically viable for the integration of rooftop solar PV. This corresponds to an additional 1035 MWp of solar PV capacity and the avoidance of 8.4 million tons of CO2 emissions with minimal financial risk. In comparison, an expanded net metering policy supports the deployment of 4653 MWp of solar PV and the avoidance of 38 million tons of CO2. By enabling an enhanced net metering policy, the widespread application of rooftop solar PV may present considerable savings and emission reduction for energy-intensive industries (electrical and semiconductors, cement and concrete, steel and metals, and textile and garments) and lower generation costs for less energy intensive industries (construction and construction materials, transportation and logistics, and food and beverages).
Highlights
The Philippine industrial sector contributed to around 35% of the country’s gross domestic product in 2019 [1]
We demonstrated that the implementation of rooftop solar PV in some Philippine sub-industries (Electrical and Semiconductors, Steel and Metals, Food and Beverages, Transportation and Logistics, and Textile and Garments) generated additional energy supply and cost savings, especially if the export limit is amended [15]
The off-grid operation of an industrial facility is currently discouraged by the present economic outlook [16] but this scenario is described by the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) of the Philippine government
Summary
The Philippine industrial sector contributed to around 35% of the country’s gross domestic product in 2019 [1]. The large energy consumption of the industrial sector is met with environmental pressure due to the CO2 emissions associated with the country’s energy mix. To solve these problems, the implementation of rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) on industrial facilities has been investigated due to the ample solar energy potential in the Energies 2020, 13, 5070; doi:10.3390/en13195070 www.mdpi.com/journal/energies. The displacement of energy from the grid by solar PV generation can reduce emissions, while selling excess solar PV generation to the grid via net metering may yield profits [4]. These systems show a payback period (PBP) from 3 to 11 years and an internal rate of return (IRR)
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