Published May 24, 2021, 12:47 PM
The Philippines is traversing its second wave of massive renewable energy (RE) developments; and providentially, local and foreign investors’ alike have their sights focused anew on this market.
Cover photo of the E-Book that shall guide Norwegian investors on investing in the energy sector of the Philippines that was prepared by Norconsult Mgt Services, Phils. Inc. for the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Manila.
The first investment rollouts in the 2014-2016 timeframe had been underpinned by the feed-in-tariff (FIT) perks, but as the country’s honeymoon with that incentive scheme had already been over, the next round of RE installations will have to lean mainly on other market sweeteners primarily the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), net metering program, Green Energy Option Program (GEOP), as well as the envisioned trading of RE certificates via the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
Published May 24, 2021, 2:40 PM
The House Committee on Energy on Monday, May 24 approved a bill that would give the Joint Congressional Energy Commission (JCEC) a permanent status, removing in the process its expiration as a body exercising oversight functions on the energy sector.
In a committee hearing alternately presided over by Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (Philreca) Partylist Rep. Presley de Jesus, and Pampanga 1st District Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, the House panel unanimously approved House Bill 9132 or the JCEC Expiration Act.
The House panel also unanimously adopted the amendments to the measure sought by Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC) Partylist Rep. Sergio Dagooc who proposed that the PCEC be granted the power of oversight on the implementation of all laws relating to the energy sector, except the Biofuels Act of 2006 Among the laws identified by Dagooc were Republic Act No. 8479 or the Downstream Oil Deregulation Act of 1998
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 21) Senator Imee Marcos is calling on the government to check if its plan to rehabilitate the decades-old Agus-Pulangi hydropower plants in Mindanao holds water.
The Agus-Pulangi Hydropower Complex, composed of seven mostly run-of-river hydroelectric power plants, is a burning issue, Marcos said during a Senate hearing on the proposed removal of the expiration period of the Joint Congressional Energy Commission.
The complex is currently owned by state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) and operated by the National Power Corporation, but the government can soon choose to have it privatized as the ten-year ban under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or EPIRA lapses.
SunStar
CEBU EXPLAINER: City Council to consult Veco, business, consumer groups on electricity cost. Yet, ERC already ordered the firm to explain and, earlier, Veco twice promised to lower rates
SunStar File May 07, 2021 THE Cebu City Council has decided that its committee on energy will discuss with Visayan Electric Company (Veco) officials and representatives of Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) and local consumer groups the growing complaints against the rise in electricity bills, especially during the pandemic. The date still has to be announced.
The resolution, moved in its Wednesday (May 5) regular session by Minority Floor Leader Nestor Archival but passed with no objection, would have the committee find out why Veco has been allegedly buying more than 50 percent of its power supply from companies owned or affiliated with the owners of Veco.
BusinessWorld
May 3, 2021 | 7:11 pm
By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr.
The Department of Energy (DoE) released the Philippines Power Statistics 2020 this week and it shows some interesting data on the country’s energy mix. Installed capacity in 2020 has reached 26,250 megawatts (MW) or 26.25 gigawatts (GW), and the four biggest energy technologies are coal, oil-based, hydro, and natural gas. In actual electricity generation, the four biggest sources are coal, natural gas, geothermal, and hydro (
see Table 1).
There are three interesting pieces of data here. One, coal constituted 42% of total installed capacity in 2020 but its actual power generation was 57% of the total. The big increase in coal generation came from the Mindanao grid starting 2016 (double the 2015 level) through 2019 (double the 2016 level). There are no longer daily “Earth Hours” and regular blackouts in Mindanao.