By Neil Jerome C. Morales (The Philippine Star) Updated February 29, 2012 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - UK-based-companies are ready to share their expertise in the renewable energy sector to local firms through partnerships and business ventures, officials said.
They said the Philippines, despite the lack of funding and technology, has a big potential to generate more power from green energy projects.
Local energy officials, for their part, said the feed-in tariff (FIT) mechanism for renewable energy projects might be implemented in the second quarter to encourage more investments in the sector.
“The Philippines has a very advance policy development, it has ambitious plans for renewable energy,” Michael Doran, managing director of consultation firm Action Renewables, said in “The UK Experience on Renewable Energy” forum yesterday.
The next step is for the implementation of renewable energy projects in the country.
Doran said the company will facilitate, educate and advice public and private sector on renewable energy projects.
For Claire Watson, an associate of London-based commercial law firm Pinsent Masons, the Philippines can take advantage of its wind energy potential.
“There is a huge amount of wind potential in the Philippines,” Watson said. The country can generate as much as 76,600 megawatts (MW) of power through wind energy.
These projects can be implemented for Northern Luzon and Eastern basin provinces like Mindoro, Panay, Negros and Palawan.
However, Watson said the $50-million, 33-MW Northwind Power Development Corp. in Bangui Bay in Ilocos Norte is the only major wind farm project in the Philippines.
In contrast, UK has 16 offshore wind farms with a generating capacity of 1.6 gigawatts, the largest in the world.
Dave Pratt, director of tidal technology company Nautricity, said the Philippines can take advantage of tidal waves to generate power.
“The tidal market is immature at the moment. There are no significant investments or projects of scale,” Pratt said.
However, the first generation tidal technology is very expensive so more research should be conducted, Pratt said.
UK has secured 72 million pounds of investments for innovations in the marine energy between 2004 and 2008.
Duncan Barker, project manager at consultancy firm Mott MacDonald, said they are ready to consult with local firms interested in renewable energy.
“Every project has a risk that might prevent the project from being delivered,” Barker said. For instance, financial markets, legal and regulatory risks and construction risk might pose a challenge for investors.
Since 2008, the UK has been supporting projects to raise public awareness in the Philippines on climate change issues.
The UK government targets cutting its carbon gas emissions by 50 percent from 1990 levels by 2025 to meet its emission reduction commitment under the Climate Change Act of 2008.
To date, the UK ranks fifth globally in terms of high-value clean technology patent filings.
Firms said the expertise can be transferred through various partnerships with local firms.
Local officials said the country will secure more investments in the renewable energy sector when more incentives are in place.
The FIT scheme will hopefully implemented in the second quarter, Francis Saturnino C. Juan, executive director of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), said on the sidelines of the renewable investment forum.
Juan said the ERC hopes to implement the program despite an ongoing hearing with the Court of Appeals.
Last year, the Foundation for Economic Freedom filed for a temporary restraining order to stop hearings of the regulator on the FIT.
The FIT scheme, whose implementation is already delayed by almost three years, guarantees investments of renewable energy firms through fixed rates that would be shouldered by consumers over a set period of time.
“We have to approve the FIT now in order to start the projects. Renewable energy projects are in limbo as they wait for the FIT and they cannot go into financial closing,” National Renewable Energy Board chairman Pete H. Maniego said.
To date, the Philippines sources 35 percent its total power requirements from renewable energy sources.
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