The Department of Energy has long stressed the need for a balanced energy mix for a reliable, safe, and consistent energy supply for the country at reasonable cost. The Philippines’ power supply is still largely provided by coal and natural gas, but there have been major moves in the last few years to develop renewable energy, notably wind, hydro, and solar.
The increased use of renewable energy has also been a major development in many countries around the globe, in line with the effort to reduce the rise in world temperatures due to industrial emissions that have increased world temperatures, causing the polar glaciers to melt, ocean levels to rise, and typhoons and hurricanes to hit countries like the Philippines with greater destructive power.
We thus welcomed the recent announcement by Meralco that it plans to invest in 1,000-megawatt green energy projects in the next five to seven years. Meralco President and CEO Ray C. Espinosa said MGen Renewable Energy, Inc., has been established to serve as the platform for the push to develop renewable energy projects, primarily solar, wind, and run-of- river hydro.
While there is the ongoing requirement for new reliable baseload generation to support the fast-growng Philippine economy, MGen President and CEO Rogelio Singson said, “we believe the time is right to focus on building our green-energy capacity and we intend to be a key player in this expanding sector.”
Significantly, Meralco’s announcement of its move to invest in green energy projects was made on World Environment Day early this month. This special holiday has been the United Nations’ principal vehicle for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of the environment since 1974.
Meralco is the country’s largest electric power distribution company and the largest private-sector utility in the country. It is expanding in power generation, using high-efficiency, low-emission technology to help push the country’s growing momentum in economic development.
With its fast-growing population and rapidly expanding economy, the Philippines will be needing increasing amounts of energy in the next few years. Its current energy mix leans toward fossil fuels – coal, natural gas, and oil, but the government has declared a policy to foster renewable energy, including tax holidays and duty-free importation of special technology equipment. Meralco has now moved to take its place in this developing area of safe and reliable renewable energy.
