The Department of Energy (DOE) is optimistic about prospects of foreign investments in renewable energy (RE) in the Philippines seen as among the emerging leaders globally in the sector.
The DOE will conduct a business-to-business matching event this week to assist foreign investors in finding local partners to support the country’s energy transition program.
“There is a heightened enthusiasm from international investors for unlocking the country’s RE potential and we are linking them with financing institutions, development organizations, concerned government institutions, and engineering, procurements and construction companies for potential partnerships and access to financing,” said DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla, in a statement yesterday.
The DOE said the activity will also guide potential RE investors and developers in doing business in the country as the government eyes to achieve a 35 percent share of RE in the power generation mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.
“To meet our energy transition goal, we are utilizing this platform where participants can identify potential business partners, investors, expertise, technologies or business strengths,” Lotilla added.
As of January 2024, the DOE has awarded 1,267 projects with RE Service Contracts with a total potential capacity of around 129,000 megawatts (MW) covering various technologies.
DOE added the Philippines has been recognized in the 2023 BloombergNEF’s Climatescope Report, as the country ranking fourth globally after India, China, and Chile as one of the most attractive emerging markets for RE investments.
The report said the Philippines stands out as one of the few economies that have implemented auctions, feed-in-tariffs, net metering schemes, tax incentives, and a strong target for RE.
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.
