Consultants sought for $500-M e-Trike project

MANILA, Philippines–The Department of Energy has begun seeking for local and foreign consultants to help implement the proposed $500-million electric tricycle project, which is seen to jumpstart the critical transition towards a sustainable transport program in the country.

In a notice, the DOE said it has already begun the bidding process for interested consultants, who will be providing management services and implementation support for the five-year e-Trike project, which is targeted to commence within the year.

The bidding proper is scheduled on August 23.

The DOE believes that the e-Trike program is a “transformation [that] will permanently change the market dynamics” by increasing energy conversion efficiency and switch from oil imports, and by reducing the environmental impact of traditional fuels.

The DOE also expects the e-Trike project—which targets the rollout of as many as 100,000 units between now and 2017—to potentially attract large reputable battery manufacturers for local presence and to create an “early-adopter” opportunity to innovate in establishing sustainable local e-trike manufacturing capacity, and other associated services.

The Manila-based Asian Development Bank is expected to fund $300 million of the e-Trike project, while $100 million will come from the Philippine government. Another $100 million is expected to come from the Clean Technology Fund.

Sohail Hasnie, principal energy specialist at the ADB, earlier said he expected at least 100 of these e-trikes to start plying Philippine roads.

The main plan was to initially roll out 20,000 units on key islands, such as Boracay and Puerto Princesa, and in some parts of Metro Manila. After this, a study will be conducted to determine whether the use of e-trikes works according to the project objectives and yields the benefits targeted by the ADB and the Philippine government.

Only after the initial batch is proven successful will the ADB proceed with the rollout of the remaining 80,000 units, he had said.

According to Hasnie, the ADB is also looking into putting up five pilot charging stations to ensure the viability and sustainability of the e-trikes project. The target, he added, was to make sure that the cost of power used by the e-trikes would be much lower than the cost of fuel used by regular tricycles.

At present, more than 3.5 million motorized tricycles are operating in the country, producing more than 10 million tons of carbon dioxide and using nearly $5 billion worth of imported fuel yearly.