Experts: Energy industry must green and bear burden of rising demand

The Philippines is seen contributing to a “vibrant, eco-friendly, secure and efficient” energy market in the next five years amid a government push toward electricity competition in the face of lack of clear policies and concerns on the bankability of projects, according to consultancy firm Capgemini.

The France-based firm said in a commentary Southeast Asia was in a cusp, cued by changing consumer demographics, changing energy demand, regulatory frameworks and technology options. It was referring to the shift toward clean energy and away from fossil fuels, especially coal.

“All of these changes are expected to play a major role in transforming the Southeast Asian energy market into a vibrant, eco-friendly, secure and efficient market in the next five years,” said Gaurav Modi, chief executive of Capgemini in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan and Kiran Keshav, group sales officer.

Modi and Keshav noted rising energy demand in the region needed to be met in an environmentally friendly manner.

A major hurdle, they said, was the relatively low investment in renewable energy in Southeast Asia, which was pegged at just 1.2 percent of the global total. This, while the region accounted for 3.7 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2017.

“This modest investment is attributable to policy uncertainty in most of the countries,” Modi and Keshav said. “Projects in the Philippines and Vietnam, for example, have been slow to proceed due to a lack of clear government policies and bankability concerns.”

Even then, they noted progress has been made in the last two years, and most countries in the region have shown clear intent in embracing a greener energy mix.

“Malaysia and the Philippines have also been considering deregulation and are at different stages in terms of opening up their markets to competition,” they added. —RONNEL W. DOMINGO