Following the suspension of granting new contracts for greenfield coal power projects in the country, the Department of Energy (DoE) has recently okayed 928 more renewable energy contracts with a combined capacity of 30GW as of May 2021.
The DoE has been aggressively pushing for the shift to renewable energy and has introduced key programs to attract investments from the private sector. Among these programs are the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards (RPS), Green Energy Option Program, and the Net Metering Program. Under the RPS, the DoE will be auctioning 2,000 MW of renewable energy capacity to private investors. The DoE aims to grow the share of renewable energy in the power generation mix from last year’s 21% to 35% in the next ten years and at least 50% by 2040.
Currently, renewable energy project applicants should be Filipino or a corporation that is at least 60% owned by Filipino. However, last year, the DoE opened the geothermal sector to foreign participation allowing foreign investors 100% ownership of large-scale geothermal projects with a minimum investment cost of USD 50 million. Biomass (waste-to-energy) projects are also opened to 100% foreign ownership. The DoE is currently studying to loosen the restrictions in foreign ownership for other renewable energy sectors.
The HSBC Global Research hailed the Philippines as the 2nd best investment destination for renewable energy in Southeast Asia following Vietnam.
(Source: Business Mirror)
