Economic Cha-cha to create jobs in RE 

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The Department of Energy (DOE) expressed support to proposals to lift the economic restrictions in the 1987 Constitution.

DOE Undersecretary Sharon Garin, at the hearing of Resolution of Both Houses No. 7 at the House of Representatives on Wednesday, noted allied industries in energy like mining and ports will generate foreign investments once these are liberalized.

Garin said as an example, there were 1.5 million job openings in RE when the sector was opened to 100 percent foreign ownership in 2022 of which 357,459 individuals were employed in that year alone.

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Garin said it is estimated that 10 direct jobs and 30 indirect jobs are generated per megawatt (MW) of RE projects.

“(The) estimated direct and indirect job generation for 2023 new contracts based on potential capacity is at least 1.5 million positions,” Garin added.

The DOE official said additional jobs would stem from foreign investments in ports as well as mining especially for Vanadium and Scandium, as these are critical components of steel alloys employed in space vehicles, nuclear reactors, aircraft carriers transmission lines and various other applications.

“Other than investments in the development of (RE), other components that will come in because of the trillions of investment from foreign investors is port development. We will need at least 10 new ports to cater to offshore wind projects,” Garin said.

The DOE undersecretary said foreign firms have explored opportunities for the manufacture in the Philippines of turbines and semiconductor controllers including their parts and components like plates, turbines and towers.

Garin said the government witnessed a surge in investment applications, including proposals for offshore wind and floating solar RE systems when RE was opened to 100 percent foreign ownership.

She said out of the 400 proposals for RE contracts, the government approved 275 service contract applications for 39,000 gigawatts (GW) capacity valued at about P8 trillion.

In 2023, the Board of Investments (BOI) approved 52 power projects across the country, totaling 4.7 GW in capacity and nearly P1 trillion in aggregate project cost.

Garin also noted 80 percent of the almost P1.3 trillion of foreign direct investments registered under the BOI in 2023 were energy projects.

Garin also said since the Philippines is ranked as the fourth most attractive country for green energy investment among 110 countries, further liberalization of the economy could enhance the country’s ranking.

She said that such move will also have a significant social and economic impacts, including technology transfer, human capacity building and increased financing.

 

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