The Department of Energy (DOE) will make hyper scale data center investments in the country more feasible by pushing renewable energy (RE)
A hyperscale data center is a facility that houses critical infrastructure needed by companies that require massive amounts of computer processing power to operate efficiently.
Energy Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said that investors have noted that among their considerations to push through with the development of such facilities include the availability, reliability and affordability of electricity in the Philippines especially if its from RE sources.
“Their power demand is so big. Let’s say that we have several islands that has a total of 8 megawatts (MW) power requirement. For these investments, their demand is anywhere from 8 MW to over 100 MW just for a single company,” Guevara told reporters at the sidelines of the business-to-business matching event hosted by the DOE in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development in Taguig city, last week.
Guevara added if the country would aspire to become a hub for hyperscale data centers in the Asean region, pushing for further RE projects will be a good opportunity.
According to latest data from the DOE, total installed RE capacity in the Philippines comprising solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass technologies as of end-November 2023 is at 8,320 MW.
The said figure is equivalent to 29.3 percent of the 28,359 MW entire installed capacity in the country for the period excluding energy storage systems. -Jed Macapagal
