French firm: Philippines a leader in renewable energy developments in Southeast Asia

French firm Philippines a leader in renewable energy developments in Southeast Asia

The Philippines leads in installing renewable energy developments in Southeast Asia and it can still expand its portfolio by targeting off-grid areas, a French multinational professional service and business consulting firm said.

According to the latest report of Capgemini, World Energy Market Observatory, the Philippines has five gigawatts (GW) worth of wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and small hydro projects in the pipeline.

The report also stated that the country contributed to 0.4 percent of carbon emissions globally in 2016.

“From a peer group and the rest of the world, you’re way ahead of not being a carbon emitter,” Capgemini executive vice president Perry Stoneman said.

The Philippines is also a leader in implanting renewable energy projects in the region which helps in minimizing its carbon emissions.

Stoneman said that renewable energy projects can help the country in meeting its electrification goals through microgrid developments like storage, wind or solar projects.

“Another thing is that renewable projects are the easier way to get access to remote villages that might not have highly reliable electricity services… versus the centralized generation, transmission and distribution lines with heavy transformers,” Stoneman said.

“Renewable energies, which can be distributed energy resources (DER), could be the best way to improve the reliability of electricity in the provinces,” he said.