The Department of Energy (DOE) is in talks with the government of Portugal on possible collaboration on renewable energy (RE) and alternative fuels like hydrogen.
The DOE said in a statement yesterday the discussions were made during the courtesy visit of Portuguese Foreign Minister Joí£o Gomes Cravinho last week.
DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla said Cravinho particularly cited the interest of Energias de Portugal (EDP) and EDP Renewables (EDPR) to invest in the country’s RE projects as both firms eye to expand their presence in Southeast Asia through investments in the Philippines.
EDP is a Portuguese electric utilities company that generates 74 percent of its energy requirements from RE sources. It aims to be 100 percent green by 2030.
EDPR was established to manage, operate and invest in the renewable assets portfolio of EDP. It is currently the world’s fourth largest wind energy producer and is a global leader in onshore wind farms.
Lotilla said discussions also focused on other possible areas for cooperation, such as the development of offshore wind and floating solar, hydrogen and ammonia production using RE, liquefied natural gas importation, and improvement of transmission and distribution lines in the Philippines, to support economic development and energy transition.
Lotilla also expressed interest in the experience of Portugal in repurposing and incentivizing the transition of coal power plants by using other alternative fuels, such as co-firing with hydrogen or ammonia.
DOE said the potential partnership between the countries may help the Philippines understand Portugal’s experience in decommissioning its two remaining coal-fired power plants, signaling that coal exit is possible through a combination of carbon pricing, RE investment and just transition planning.
