The Philippines would need an additional capacity of 43,765 megawatts (MW) of power by 2040, a former Department of Energy (DOE) official said. 

During the 2nd Philippine Renewable Energy Virtual Conference, former Energy Undersecretary Atty. Jose Layug said the country has been relying less on renewable energy sources, and more on fossil fuels, citing that RE sources generated only 20% of the country’s energy mix in 2019, a significant drop from the 32.6% generated in 2009. 

“There have been a lot of challenges in putting up RE plants for the last six years,” Atty. Layug said during the conference. 

However, Layug said that the appointment of Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla and Energy Regulatory Commission Chairperson Atty. Monalisa Dimalanta brings “hope in the future of renewable energy in the Philippines.” 

“We are hoping that the government will be able to make it more efficient in doing business in the Philippines by cutting down on the signatures you need to secure, and cutting down the permits you need to get to put up a power plant,” Layug said. 

The former DOE official added that the ERC can facilitate the approvals on the applications of distribution utilities and electric cooperatives in order to upgrade their transmission lines to allow more RE power plants to be built in the Philippines. 

“The other challenge that most RE plants encounter in the PH is the transmission capacity,” Layug stressed. 

For SN Aboitiz Power Group vice president and chief corporate affairs officer Atty. Michael Bon Hosillos, the “local government and developers need to create the right investment climate for RE to actually prosper.” 

“The local government has trust in promoting and supporting renewable energy, they can already pre-identify areas where renewable energy can be put up and allocate these areas in their special land use plans as industrial areas for renewable energy development,” Atty. Hosillos said. 

Atty. Hosillos added that the local government can form RE committees and legislative to help and assist investments in the area. 

“That will help process these in an expedient manner so that they can immediately accommodate these types of investments in their area,” Hosillos said.