The Board of Investments (BOI) is offering improved incentives to registered projects aiming to supply their electricity needs through self-established renewable energy (RE) facilities.
According to Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head, Ceferino Rodolfo, Memorandum Circular (MC) 2023-006, which was signed on October 16, updated the guidelines for providing incentives on energy efficiency and conservation (EE&C) projects, which is under the special laws of the 2022 Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP).
Rodolfo added that these amendments to BOI MC 2022-008 are the fulfillment of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s commitment to support Japanese firms and other investors in the Philippines who planned to construct their RE facilities to cater to their electricity demand.
The recent circular also stipulated that self-financed energy efficiency projects (EEP) are qualified for the income tax holiday (ITH) incentive and exemptions from duties on the importation of capital equipment, raw materials, and spare parts or accessories.
“The ITH incentive shall be limited to the prescribed ITH entitlement period under the CREATE (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises) Act or until the recovery of 50 percent of its capital investment, excluding the cost of land and working capital of the registered EEP, whichever comes first,” the MC stated.
Meanwhile, the Japanese company MinebeaMitsumi, Inc. has taken the lead by installing its own 7.9-megawatt-hour (MWh) solar power system in its factory in Danao City, Cebu.
The company’s President and CEO, Tatsuya Mori, revealed that they invested approximately PHP500 million in the project.
“We are very happy to be the first case to have these incentives which can be applied for our use in Danao,” Mori shared.
Additionally, Sharp Energy Solutions Corporation (SESJ), the provider of the solar power system, is expected to generate approximately 12,806 MWh of clean energy annually, making it the largest self-supported renewables project for Japanese firms in the Philippines.
SESJ believes that this will lead to an annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of around 6,833 tons of carbon dioxide per year.
Furthermore, Mori disclosed that the company plans to replicate the project in its two factories in Luzon, which could involve rooftop solar farms.
As for the new guidelines on incentives, Rodolfo encouraged registered BOI firms to embrace them as part of the country’s transition to clean energy. He stressed the urgent shift toward renewable energy and noted that the country worked on actively promoting sustainability through policies and incentive programs.
