THE PHILIPPINES’ Energy Virtual One-Stop Shop (EVOSS) will eventually include local government units (LGUs) in order to address delays in project approvals, the Energy secretary said on Wednesday.
“Under a whole-of-government approach and fully implemented the energy required one-stop shop system to cover all relevant agencies and entities. At the moment, the Department of Energy (DoE) is in the process of integrating the remaining relevant agencies and entities into the evaluation platform,” Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla said during the BusinessWorld Insights forum at the Shangri-La The Fort Manila in Bonifacio Global City.
EVOSS is an online platform under the DoE that streamlines and expedites the processing of applications for energy projects.
Power generation companies have said the biggest hurdle in their projects is the delay in approvals by LGUs.
“The EVOSS is being expanded to make sure that local governments are also in the system and in the loop. We will continue to work with you in the private sector, in accordance with a clear goal set by the President to develop each of the sources of energy, particularly renewables,” Mr. Lotilla said.
A recent report conducted by the World Wide Fund for Nature identified red tape and inadequate incentives are obstacles to the growth of the Philippines’ renewable energy sector.
Felino M. Bernardo, Aboitiz Power Corp. chief operating officer for the company’s thermal power generation group, said the country’s transmission system is also a challenge to achieving the government’s energy security target.
“We are an archipelago; we are not well-connected. We can have solar and wind plants, but transmission is still a challenge. We need to do this responsibly and reliably. Energy has to be on 24/7,” Mr. Bernardo said.
Oliver Y. Tan, president and chief executive officer of Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC) said that the problems in shifting to renewable energy such as wind and solar are not limited to the Philippines.
“Anywhere in the world has the problem of transitioning to variable renewable energy. This is not limited to the Philippines. It is on all stakeholders to come up (with a solution),” Mr. Tan said.
For a country like the Philippines with an abundance of resources like solar, wind and hydro, Mr. Tan said the ideal energy mix would be 70-30 with 70% coming from renewable sources.
Under the Philippine Energy Plan, the government is targeting to increase the share of renewable energy to 35% by 2030 and 50% by 2040.
As of end-2022, the share of renewable energy in the country’s power mix is at 22%.
The DoE aims to issue a revised Philippine Energy Plan, expanding its coverage from 2040 to 2050. In the new Philippine Energy Plan, the DoE proposes a higher share of renewable energy of more than 50%.
Miguel G. de Jesus, chief operating officer of ACEN Corp., said that the ideal energy mix is full renewable energy.
“The Philippines is in a very privileged position. The role of the private sector is to seize this opportunity,” Mr. De Jesus said.
Also, the Energy chief reiterated the importance of the transmission system to accommodate the country’s energy needs.
“Transmission is key. We need to improve on the system impact studies because these have to be addressed upfront rather than later. The SIS (system impact study) unfortunately is rather delayed,” Mr. Lotilla said.
The SIS is being conducted by the system operator, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), to assess how adding new energy sources can impact the grid.
Earlier, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered the NGCP to complete the SIS within 60 days.
“The sector has been complaining of delays from one and half years to two years in the SIS alone. These are the things that we want to be able to address so that RE developers will be able to focus on the rollout of their projects,” Mr. Lotilla said.
Mr. Lotilla said that the DoE is also set to conduct a “comprehensive review” of the NGCP’s performance to help advance and identify the hurdles in the country’s energy sector. — Ashley Erika O. Jose
