Price of local energy woes: Missed opportunity to rule data center race

MANILA, Philippines — The collapse of some renewable energy projects has derailed the Philippines’ bid to become a regional data center hub, a network of digital advocates said.

Ronald Gustilo, Digital Pinoys national campaigner, said the local market lost “a critical opportunity” to become the leading hyperscaler destination after renewable developers, particularly Leviste-led Solar Philippines, had failed to deliver their commitments.

Solar Philippines accounted for 64 percent of the total terminated contracts, or more than 11,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy capacity.

“This was not just an energy project failure. This was a lost national opportunity. The Philippines failed to build data centers, artificial intelligence infrastructure and a strong digital economy because the electricity that was promised was never delivered,” Gustilo said in a statement.

READ: Leviste sees move to gag him; Garin cites his firm’s ‘2%’ output

Data centers have been on the rise as they cater to businesses’ large-scale information and technology operations, supporting the massive digital shift, particularly highlighted during the pandemic.

As these facilities need uninterrupted power, most operators opt for the lowest possible carbon emissions.

READ: PH must fix power, policy gaps to attract AI data centers — Stratbase

‘Investors don’t wait’

Gustilo claimed that global technology firms may shun the Philippines, as they shift their focus to neighboring countries with robust clean energy supply.

“When projects of this scale fail, investors don’t wait. They leave—and they may never come back,” he said.

Following this energy contract chaos, billionaire and lawmaker Leandro Leviste decided to leave his post as a member of the board of directors of SP New Energy Corp. and its subsidiary Terra Solar Philippines Inc.

READ: Leviste leaves board seats in SPNEC, MTerra Solar

“To prevent Meralco and other investors in the companies I sold from being caught up in any wrongful political attacks against me, I resigned as a board director,” he said in a social media post.

Before this, Leviste has been exposing anomalies in infrastructure funding. He also drew the ire of some lawmakers after claiming that they had received P2 million in bonuses late last year. INQ