The Department of Energy said Monday nine Chinese companies agreed to invest $13.76 billion in renewable energy, battery energy storage systems and off-grid power supply systems in the Philippines.
Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the companies responded positively to the country’s renewable energy policy directions. These companies conveyed their interest to invest in the Philippines to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during a roundtable meeting on Jan. 5.
“We are very pleased with the enthusiasm we have received from these Chinese companies during our roundtable meeting. They were upbeat with our policy reforms and directions on RE, especially on the opening of 100-percent foreign ownership on wind and solar projects,” Lotilla said.
Lotilla asked the Renewable Energy Management Bureau and Investment Promotions Office to start communicating with the Chinese companies, “and provide the full support to hasten this particular cooperation between the Philippines and China.”
Lotilla said during the meeting the Marcos administration aimed to attain 35-percent RE share by 2030 and 50-percent by 2040. He said an additional 52,000 megawatts of renewable energy would be needed by 2040 to meet the country’s goals. About 27,000 MW will be from solar and another 16,000 MW from wind, excluding the country’s total offshore wind potential of about 178,000 MW.
The Department of Trade and Industry organized the investor meetings on RE, agribusiness, nickel processing and electric vehicle manufacturing as part of President Marcos’ state visit in Beijing.
Among the companies that attender the investor meetings are China Energy International Group Co. Ltd., China Power International Development Ltd., SPIC Guangxi Electric Power Co. Ltd (a subsidiary and a secondary unit of State Power Investment Corp. Ltd.), China Machinery Engineering Corp., China General Nuclear Power Group, China Huadian Engineering Co. Ltd., China Tianying Inc., Dajin Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. and Mingyang Smart Energy Group Ltd.
Some of these companies already have a presence in the Philippines, such as Energy China, which has been in the country for more than 20 years.
Energy China’s projects, located in Northern Luzon, provide power generation, substation, transmission, cell site and fiber-to-home and data center projects.
CPID is involved in developing solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal and biomass power. It is also into emerging green energy industries such as energy storage, hydrogen energy, green electric transportation and integrated smart energy. CPID intends to establish corporations with local entities to invest in these industries.
SPIC Guangxi Electric Power Co. is a subsidiary and a secondary unit of SPIC, focusing on the development, investment, construction and operation of electric power. It has the largest installed capacity of wind power in Guangxi. Its projects include the 230-kV Substation EPC Project in Navotas, the 500-kV Substation EPC Project in Pagbilao, Taguig-Baras 500 kV Overhead Transmission Line EPC and the Abuyog 230 kV Substation EPC Project.
CMEC, a subsidiary of the China National Machinery Industry Corp., is among the world’s top 500 companies.
CGN is the third-largest nuclear power producer worldwide and China’s first-largest nuclear power producer. It also has a total wind power capacity of more than 35,000 MW and solar projects with combined capacity of 10,000 MW.
China Huadian Engineering Co. is actively investing in RE projects in Indonesia and Vietnam and is now looking at expanding in the Philippines. CNTY is engaged in smart urban services, resource recycling, recovery and RE, while DHI is a publicly-listed company with a 300-MW wind power project under construction.
Mingyang Smart Energy Group is the world’s leading renewable energy solution provider and wind turbine generator manufacturer. Its wind turbine generators have reached accumulative installation of over 45 GW, ranking sixth globally in the industry.