President Marcos Jr., in his meeting with Bruneian energy industry players on Wednesday, expressed the Philippines’ interest in the latest technology in converting waste products to useful energy to boost the country’s power supply.
The President, before concluding his state visit to Brunei on Wednesday, discussed the Philippines’ plans to transition from fossil fuels to RE even as he bared plans to enhance oil and gas collaborations.
Marcos bared these in a meeting with the representatives of Brunei’s oil and gas companies Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn. Bhd (BSP), Brunei LNG Sdn. Bhd (BLNG), Total Energies in BruneI, Serikandi Oilfield Services Sdn Bhd, and Adinin Group of Companies.
While Brunei’s economy is c driven by oil and gas sector for its exports and revenue, its Vision 2035 calls for the acceleration of economic growth with a large proportion of it to be contributed by the non-oil and gas sector.
According to the Department of Trade and Industry, the Brunei companies have programs and plans which contribute to such goal.
BSP has launched the flagship solar photovoltaic (PV) plant; BLNG serves as a transitional fuel while RE is being developed; Total is developing a solar power plant that is expected to start operations in early 2025; Serikandi is embarking on green and RE projects, focusing on PV solar and; the Adinin Group is acquiring technical knowledge from BSP on oil, gas and RE.
During the meeting, officials of the energy companies talked about exploring investment opportunities in the Philippines’ RE sector; sharing expertise and technological advancements in oil, gas, and RE; sustainable practices; and future energy projects.
“There’s a great deal of interest in that (waste to energy). But right now, it is not at the very macro level. It’s very much at the micro level. It’s basically local governments because there is the problem, the attendant problem of what do we do with our waste?” he said.
He said there are some potential gas fuels in the Philippines that just need to be further developed and explored.
The President, however, acknowledged there are some issues to be addressed such as the “geopolitical concerns,” especially with some of the huge gas and oil deposits located in “conflict areas” of the West Philippine Sea as well as the cost of power and energy, and the delay in the establishment of more transmission lines, among others.
“But we are working very hard on that,” the President said.
Marcos was in Brunei Tuesday for a two-day visit before flying to Singapore for a working visit from May 29 to 31.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., who accompanied the President in Brunei, invited Bruneian companies to invest in the Philippines in irrigation systems, farm mechanization services, feed milling facilities, post-harvest and processing and logistics segment, modern post-harvest storage systems, and integrated food terminal facilities.
Other investment opportunities presented are the establishment of fish ports including landing, agri-fishery enterprises and business incubation initiatives, state-of-the-art service laboratories and testing and analysis, ICT-based interventions, organic multiplier farm, seed centers in the community, and composting system/facilities for organic agriculture.
