Renewable energy (RE) stakeholders in the Philippines are downplaying the potential negative effects of US President Donald Trump’s stance against renewable energy.
Mylene Capongcol, an undersecretary at the Department of Energy, said the impact on the Philippine energy sector would be minimal. The Trump administration ended subsidies for green initiatives like solar and wind, calling them unreliable energy sources.
This contrasts with the Philippines’ policy, which aims for renewable energy to account for 35 percent of its power mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.
“Most of the investors in the renewable energy or in the energy space are from, you know, Filipino companies and then Chinese or other Asian countries,” Capongcol said.
“And we all know that even the engineering procurement contractors are mostly from the Chinese firms,” she said.
“And we see that the private sector is wise enough to determine which would be the most cost-effective project development for their projects,” said Capongcol.
