The Philippine government said on Tuesday, that it can meet it’s renewable energy capacity target in the next three to five years so as to cut electricity prices and attract more investors.
The Philippines’ high power rates in Asia have been blamed for driving away investment.
But President Benigno Aquino III told an industry forum that the government’s renewable energy capacity target of 15,400 megawatts by 2030 may be achieved much earlier than expected.
Aquino said that approved service contracts in line with the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) amounts to about 7,067 megawatts, and pending applications total 3,771 megawatts.
“Together with the installed capacity already of about 5,000 megawatts, it seems to be a clear path already to attaining that needed energy by 2030 even in the next perhaps three to four or five years,” he said.
The President said that an increase in installed generation capacity “will be the factor that will bring down the prices of electricity.”
He added that high electricity prices remains a problem, which will be addressed by amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) that he hoped would be passed by Congress this year.
