DOE revisits factors behind low GEA turnout B L L @llectura
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UPPLY limitation, low incentives, delay in the conduct of grid impact studies, and the cost of financial guarantees are some of the reasons for the low turnout of bidders in the recently concluded second round of Green Energy Auction (GEA), according to energy secretary Raphael Lotilla. “We are going to [conduct] focus group discussions with private sector because at that time that we announced the bids, not only...were there were no objections, but it was welcomed by private sector. But as the bidding date drew closer, after the announcement of the GEAR [Green Energy Auction Reserve]
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prices by the ERC, and the big bond requirements and so on, the level of interest dwindled,” said Lotilla at “Pandesal Forum” hosted by Wilson Lee Flores on Wednesday. The DOE said the GEA Program 2 generated 3,580.76 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy (RE) capacities that are committed for delivery from 2024 to 2026. The numbers are way below the 11,600MW offered by the DOE. Of which, 1,968.982 MW was committed for ground-mounted solar from 2024 to 2026; 9.39 MW was committed for 2024 and 2025 for rooftop solar; 90 MW for the construction of floating solar in 2026; 1,512.384 MW for onshore wind from 2025 and 2026. There were no bidders for biomass and
waste-to-energy projects. “We recognized that the markets have spoken that in terms of the attractability of the options based on the maximum price, that was approved by the ERC, the bids were one-third of the volumes that were made available,” said Lotilla. The energy chief said there are “good lessons to be learned” from here. “For instance, the biomass, the waste-to-energy technologies, there were no takers,” he said. “I think this was a message not only to DOE but also to our LGUs [local government units] that one of the sources of uncertainty is the stability of supply of waste and that is actually within the control of LGUs. If one puts up a waste-toenergy facility that will be able to
recover investment over a 15 or 20year period, they will need a stable supply of waste. But if the supply of waste is not going to be assured to them, they’re not going to waste good investment involved. These are some of the things that we need to look into,” Lotilla explained. Another concern raised was the availability of transmission lines “because the system impact studies [SIS] are delayed.” The results of the SIS are vital as this will determine if the transmission lines will be able to absorb new power generation capacities. “The waiting time right now is ranging from 1.5 years to 2 years. S “DOE,” A
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JUNE INFLATION SLOWS TO 5.4%; EL NIÑO A RISK www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Thursday, July 6, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 262
P. | | 7 DAYS A WEEK
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@caiordinario
L Niño is now considered one of the major upside risks to inflation in the next few months, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).
On Wednesday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that inflation slowed to 5.4 percent in June from the 6.1 percent posted in May 2023 and June 2022. (Full story hereL: https:// businessmirror.com.ph/2023/07/05/ inflation-slows-down-to-5-4-in-junedowntrend-mostly-due-to-cheaperfood-transpo-costs-psa/).
The Philippine weather bureau, Pagasa, on Tuesday issued an advisory that El Niño’s impact will be most pronounced in the latter part of 2023 and will extend until the second quarter of next year. “The balance of risks to the inflation outlook continues to lean towards the upside owing to the potential impact of additional transport fare increases and minimum wage adjustments, persistent supply constraints of key food items, El Niño weather conditions, and possible knock-on effects of higher toll rates on prices of key agricultural items. Meanwhile, the impact of a weaker-than-expected global economic recovery remains the primary downside risk to the outlook,” BSP said in a statement. BSP said the June 2023 inflation rate was within the BSP’s forecast range of 5.3 to 6.1 percent. It is also consistent with the assessment that inflation will remain elevated over the near term before gradually decelerating back to target range in last quarter of 2023 in the absence of further supplyshocks. “The BSP stands ready to adjust the monetary policy stance as necessary to prevent the further broadening of price pressures as well as the emergence of additional second order effects in view of the C A
PRESIDENT Marcos leads guests at Wednesday’s opening of Livestock Philippines Expo 2023 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. Joining him are (from left) Reps. Nicanor Briones and Wilfrido Mark Enverga, Sen. Cynthia A. Villar, Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban, Informa Markets Philippines GM Gerard Leeuwenburgh, and Pasay Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
PHL AMONG TOP 5 HOST ECONOMIES OF RE BUSINESS B A E. S J
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HE Philippines has made it to the top five host economies of renewable energy investments in the Developing Asia and Oceania region from 2015 to 2022, according to the World Investment Report 2023 released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). The Unctad report, published on July 5, 2023, showed that in the Developing Asia and Oceania region, the top host economies for international renewable energy projects are India, Vietnam and Taiwan Province of China, which attract more than 40 percent of the projects. The remaining 14 percent in the region was shared by the Phil-
ippines and Indonesia, out of the total 54 percent share of the five economies. Between 2015 and 2022, Unctad noted that Ayala Group is the top investor in renewable power in the Philippines, with 31 projects in the country. Meanwhile, in a statement on Wednesday, the Unctad called for “urgent support” to developing countries, which includes the Philippines, to enable them to attract significantly more investment for their transition to clean energy. “Developing countries need renewable energy investments of about $1.7 trillion annually but attracted foreign direct investment in clean energy worth only $544 billion in 2022,” noted the Unctad World Investment Report 2023.
For her part, Unctad SecretaryGeneral Rebeca Grynspan said, “A significant increase in investment in sustainable energy systems in developing countries is crucial for the world to reach climate goals by 2030.” Last month, the Philippines’s Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual said renewable energy (RE) projects are seen to account for a third of the Board of Investments (BOI) P1.5-trillion investments approval target for 2023. The country has allowed 100-percent foreign investments in renewable energy in its bid to attain a 35-percent share of renewable energy in the country’s energy C A
Aquaculture, poultry, livestock can survive El Niño’s impact—govt
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HE government expressed optimism on Wednesday that the country can overcome the hurdles posed by El Niño phenomenon to the poultry, livestock and aquaculture industries. “The problem with the water, I think, is solvable when it comes to, in terms of the livestock. The difficulty [is] with crops. In fisheries, not much, as you can imagine. So, I think I’m confident that when it comes to livestock and the broilers, the hogs, and the cattle,” the problems are manageable, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a sideline interview at the Livestock
Philippines Expo 2023 that opened Wednesday at the World Trade Center in Manila. He added that problems can be reckoned with “if we continue to be able to fi x the systems, and now, of course, the biggest issue is still the ASF [African swine fever] and then the Avian influenza. So, slowly it looks like we are getting control and we are seeing a good supply here for us now. The price is not very volatile, it is quite stable.” The President said he believes that as long as the country conS “E N,” A
PESO EXCHANGE RATES US 55.2540 ■ JAPAN 0.3825 ■ UK 70.2555 ■ HK 7.0560 ■ SINGAPORE 40.9592 ■ AUSTRALIA 36.9649 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 14.7336 ■ EU 60.1164 ■ KOREA 0.0427 ■ CHINA 7.6561 Source: BSP (July 5, 2023)