Local government units (LGUs) are urged to explore the possibility of tapping renewable energy (RE) sources to achieve energy security in the future.
Engr. Ed Amante, the chief of the Energy Resource Development of the Department of Energy (DOE) - Visayas said LGUs can greatly contribute to the thrust of the National Government to harness the potentials of RE sources like wind, solar, hydro, ocean and biomass as they have personal knowledge on the capacity of such RE sources in their localities.
“LGUs have the vast knowledge on the capacities of their areas for RE sources. They can approach our office anytime if they want to know the guidelines or they need assistance on how to go about it,” Amante said.
The DOE last week launched the Philippine National Renewable Energy Program with the end-goal of lessening the country’s dependence on fossil fuel and adopt alternative sources of energy to attain energy self-sufficiency and sustainability.
At present, the country taps about 5,400 megawatts of energy from RE sources like geothermal and hopes to triple the capacity use to 16,200 megawatts by 2030, according to Atty. Marissa Cerezo, assistant director of the DOE- RE Management Bureau, during the PIA Kapihan that tackled the program.
In order to accelerate the exploration and development of RE resources, the government is providing fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to investors. Fiscal incentives include a seven-year income tax holiday, corporate tax rate, 10-year exemption from tariff duties and tax exemption on carbon credits. Non-fiscal provisions include priority connection to the grid, priority purchase and transmission of and payment for by the grid system operators, fixed tariff for at least 12 years and mandatory utilization of RE generation system in on-grid systems.
Amante said the Municipality of San Francisco in Camotes Island has expressed interest in exploring the possibilities of tapping wind, hydro or solar in their area and is asking their office for assistance.
The town of Ginatilan in Southern Cebu is also eyeing the possibility of harnessing the potential of hydropower in their municipality, Amante declared.
Amante, however, said there are three existing hydro sites in Cebu: two in Badian Island located in Kawasan and Basak with 750 kilowatts capacity and one in the town of Barili.
Cerezo on the other hand, said they have awarded one hydro power plant project in Cebu to a developer but did not give further details.
The DOE-Visayas official said LGUs can claim incentives under the program as specified in the law and that to fund the pre-development stage of the exploration project, they could avail of a loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines.
“The Land Bank of the Philippines offers loans to LGUs specific to the program up to 50 percent of the total funding or not more than P5M at most,” Amante disclosed.
Cerezo meanwhile, is pushing for the public-private partnership (PPP) initiatives as the practical and effective strategy to boost potentials of RE resources in the country.
“Government’s role is to look for investors and provide a market for them while the private sector is vital in financing the RE projects,” Cerezo said.
“As of now, the DOE has awarded more than 200 contracts in RE projects nationwide and that in three years’ time, we intend to increase the capacity in the use of RE sources,” Cerezo added.
The DOE official admitted that it is not that easy to abandon the use of fossil fuel, but little by little and in time, the only solution to energy efficiency is tapping alternative resources.
