State-run Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) has tapped Land Bank of the Philippines to manage P141 million worth of funds that it has earmarked for the commercialization of renewable and other off-grid energy technologies in the Philippines.
The fund, called Decentralized Energy System Project Fund (DESPF), will be used to provide financial assistance, investments and consultancy services to local businesses engaged in the manufacture, marketing and utilization of existing and emerging energy technologies.
Landbank will act as program and fund manager, PNOC said.
“Since Landbank has an existing renewable energy loan program that supports the government’s call to develop RE and alternative energy sources, PNOC decided to place the funds in an interest-earning and principal-protected investment with the bank,” said PNOC president and CEO Antonio Cailao.
Cailao said the fund would prioritize projects that would be referred by PNOC. It will also form part of Landbank’s pool of funds to finance existing Renewable Energy and other energy-related projects.
In a related development, PNOC announced that its subsidiary, PNOC Renewables Corp., had forged an agreement with the University of the Philippines for a joint research and development of new and renewable energy sources within the various UP campuses nationwide.
Under the memorandum of understanding (MOU), PNOC-RC will conduct several feasibility studies on using solar, biomass and other renewable energies in the UP campuses, develop prototype pilot renewable energy projects in the UP system, and conduct energy audits of UP buildings.—Amy R. Remo