Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Korean investors eye renewable energy


Business World Online
Posted on November 06, 2012 08:17:49 PM

KOREAN FIRMS are interested in investing in the country’s renewable energy sector particularly in biomass, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) said yesterday.

  "All the firms we have talked to are interested [in investing] mostly in biomass because it is very competitive already in Korea," said Johwan Choi, director-general of Kotra Manila in her speech during the Philippines- Korea RE Project Partnership Forum held in Makati.

"About 80% of available land in Korea has already been developed and there are more than 1,000 firms involved in energy projects so wherever there are opportunities they will take it," she added.

About 10 firms have already expressed interest in renewable energy before Kotra but Ms. Choi did not name these companies.

The Philippines is targeting to have 9,865 megawatts (MW) of clean energy connected to the power grid by 2030 under the National Renewable Energy Program.

Promoters of renewable energy in the country urged foreign firms to find local partners to accelerate the development of renewable energy in the country.

"Many of the projects in the pipeline right now are coal plants and there could still be a power shortage in the country so interested foreign firms should look for a local partner now and help accelerate renewable energy," said National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) Chairman Pedro H. Maniego in his speech.

NREB said there are plenty of opportunities in the renewable energy sector of the Philippines that Korean firms can look into.

"There are around 750 MW of on-grid renewable energy in the pipeline. Due to the installation target, solar and wind power are already oversubscribed but there lots more opportunities in hydroelectricity and biomass. Companies should also look into off-grid areas and the possibility of setting up landfill facilities for waste to energy plants," said Mr. Maniego.

The current installation targets approved by the Energy department are 250 MW for hydropower, 250 MW for biomass, 50 MW for solar, 200 MW for wind power and 10 MW for ocean power.

The installation target was set so priority is given to less expensive technologies.

There are currently 2,333 MW of renewable energy installed in the country as of Oct. 15 according to the Energy department. -- Emilia Narni J. David   source

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