DoE: Millions of job to open once charter eases

Filipinos, along with the booming renewable energy sector, are poised to reap the benefits of the proposed lifting of economic restrictions in the 1987 Constitution.

Energy Undersecretary Sharon Garin said at a public hearing on Thursday that at least 1.5 million jobs are projected to open amid a surge in investment applications, including proposals for offshore wind and floating solar RE systems, following the opening of the sector for full foreign ownership in 2022.

To date, the government has already received 400 proposals for RE contracts and approved 275 service contract applications for 39,000 gigawatts, or GW, capacity valued at about P8 trillion.

As a rule of thumb, she said 10 direct and 30 indirect jobs can be created for every MW produced.

Garin also pointed out that additional job opportunities would arise from foreign investments in various sectors such as ports, mining, and transmission lines.

“Other than investments in the development of RE, other components that will come in because of the trillions of investment from foreign investors is port development. We will need at least 10 new ports to cater to offshore wind projects,” Garin said.

“In mining, the battery components include rare earth metals from our indigenous resources, including Vanadium and Scandium. The additional transmission lines, including a newly proposed smart green grid, will require more copper,” she added.

Garin also contended that in the manufacturing sector, various foreign firms have already explored opportunities in the Philippines, seeking sites to manufacture turbines and semiconductor controllers, to locally produce all manufacturing components, including plates, turbines, and towers.

"A few months after the amendment of the renewable energy IRR (implementing rules and regulations), CIP or Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners became the first foreign investor to be granted site exclusivity in the Philippines to develop a renewable energy project. [In] March 2023 a few months after issuance of the new IRR, it became the first 100 percent foreign-owned company to be awarded a renewable energy service contract in the country,” Garin explained.

CIP, a leading global infrastructure investor, has announced a $5 billion investment plan to develop three offshore wind energy projects in the Philippines.

The projects have a combined potential capacity of 2,000 MW or 2 GW, with 1,000 MW in Camarines Norte and Sur, 650 MW in Northern Samar, and 350 MW in Pangasinan and La Union.

Once completed, these projects are expected to create 4,500 jobs and generate enough power to supply 1 million households.

Additionally, it will help offset 2.9 million tons of CO2 emissions per year, contributing significantly to the country's efforts to transition towards cleaner energy.

In 2023, the Board of Investments approved approximately 52 power projects across the country, totaling 4.7 GW in capacity and nearly 1 trillion pesos in aggregate project cost.

Garin noted that 80 percent of the almost P1.3 trillion of Foreign Direct Investments registered under the BOI in 2023 were energy projects.

According to Garin, liberalizing the Philippine economy could improve the country's ranking as the fourth most attractive country for green energy investment among 110 countries.

The Philippines is one of the emerging investment destinations in the power sector as evident in the BloombergNEF Climate 2023 report, which ranked the country among the top 5 most attractive emerging markets for investments in the power sector.

After making substantial progress in transitioning to RE over the last two years, the Philippines moved up six spots to No. 4, following India, China, and Chile.

The report stated that the Philippines stood out as one of the few that have implemented auctions, feed-in-tariffs, net metering schemes, tax incentives, and a strong target for RE.