MAKATI CITY, Nov. 15 — Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi on November 14 presented the bright prospects for the Philippine energy sector during the 7th Energy Forum of the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines held at the Tower Club, Philamlife Tower.
In his presentation, Sec. Cusi described the country’s current energy landscape using the Energy Trilemma, defined by the World Energy Council (WEC) as the framework towards energy sustainability.
“The Philippines has performed extremely well with regard to environmental sustainability, where for four consecutive years, we have ranked first among 125 countries in the WEC’s Energy Trilemma Index. However, this comes at a tradeoff of lagging in terms of energy security, where we ranked 70th and 96th for energy equity. Herein lies the opportunity for us to work together and create a balance among these three goals with the very real need of the country’s growing energy demand,” he stated.
He likewise highlighted the DOE’s technology-neutral approach and the streamlining of domestic policy relative to energy projects through Executive Order No. 30, as jumping-off points in the government’s desire to promote the Philippines as an attractive investment destination.
The Energy Chief welcomed proposals for the integrated liquefied natural gas receiving and distributing facility; storage facilities and other aspects related to the establishment of a strong strategic oil reserve; and hybrid microgrids.
He also reiterated his invitation for the participants to join the formal launch of the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP) next Thursday, 22 November 2018 at the Shangri-la Fort Hotel. PCECP is the DOE’s enhanced service contract awarding mechanism which aims to boost petroleum exploration and development activities in the country.
On the renewable energy (RE) front, Sec. Cusi said that policy developments such as Renewable Portfolio Standards and the Green Energy Option Program will give rise to an assured market for RE generation and promote competition among the RE and other power suppliers.
“We are working to ensure that potential investors will be able to compete on a level playing field. We have set in place a competitive selection policy to ensure greater transparency and make it easier to invest in the Philippines. We hope to work with you in pursuing programs that would solve the Energy Trilemma of meeting the needs of environment sustainability, energy security and energy equity,” Sec. Cusi concluded.
Also present were DOE Senior Undersecretary Jesus Cristino P. Posadas, heads of the Joint Foreign Chambers, their members and partner organizations, as well as key energy stakeholders. (DOE)
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For more information, visit the Department of Energy at https://www.doe.gov.ph.
