DoE pushes bill to protect vital power infrastructure

The Department of Energy (DoE) is pushing for the passage of a law that will declare certain large-scale power facilities as projects of national significance to help spur interest and secure future investments.

According to Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras, a law is needed to ensure that all critical energy projects—such as the construction of oil depots, power plants, transmission towers and lines—will push through.

“You need to correct the situation wherein a local government unit can hold the whole country hostage to a situation,” Almendras said Tuesday at the sidelines of the Energy Investment Forum.

“I have an existing problem: I have transmission lines that go through a municipality, and that municipality wants to charge grossly exorbitant taxes, and if I don’t pay taxes, they will disconnect me or foreclose the transmission towers and the wires. So what’s going to happen? The whole country’s going to suffer. The whole grid’s going to collapse if you do something like that,” he said.

Resistance

In pushing the law, “the DOE is now exploring various options. I’m hoping a short-term solution can happen. We’re still studying how to do it because there is a lot of resistance to it,” the energy chief added.

The proposed law—which will declare large projects to be of national significance—is expected to iron out inconsistencies in laws and policies, as well as assure the people who will be investing a lot of money in the Philippines over the long term.

This is a crucial point in enticing prospective investors, as the government on Tuesday presented a menu of investment opportunities in the energy sector, which will require billions’ worth of investments.

Indigenous resource

Investors can choose to put in their money in indigenous resource exploration, which Almendras said was critical in ensuring the country’s energy supply. Under the Philippine Energy Contracting Round, the DoE is offering 15 prospective petroleum blocks and 30 coal areas in the country.

Some P322.5 billion in investments are needed to be infused in the oil and gas sector, covering the 15 contracts for exploration and development of highly prospective areas within the given seven-year period, and another P2.4 billion for the 30 coal areas over a four-year exploration period.

Fresh capital is also sought for power generation projects—whether using traditional fossil fuels or renewable energy sources—as the Philippines needs an additional 10,450 MW for Luzon between now and 2030; another 2,000 MW for the Visayas; and 1,950 MW for Mindanao.

Missionary electrification thrust

Under the renewable energy sector alone, the country will need over P1 trillion in new investments to put up power facilities that can generate close to 10,000 megawatts of clean energy—either from geothermal, hydro, biomass, wind or solar resources.

The private sector is likewise being urged to put up new but smaller power facilities under the government’s missionary electrification thrust.

These projects can cater to the electricity requirements of consumers living in remote and far-flung areas that are not connected to any of the three main grids.

More opportunities are available in other sectors such as the downstream oil; downstream natural gas; the Sustainable Fuels for Transport program of the government, which is aimed at boosting use of clean fuels for transport; and energy efficiency and conservation.—Amy R. Remo