DTI tells firms to provide own power

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) urged companies putting up factories in the Philippines to set up their own power generation facilities, renewable energy (RE) units in particulary, to cut costs.

Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said that on-site RE sources would help mitigate challenges posed by fluctuating energy prices and supply issues.

He added that it would also provide more stable and reliable power sources for manufacturing operations.

"Some companies have already done that [and] already set up solar farms. They're able to get their own supply of power and save in the process," Pascual told reporters on Monday.

Trade Undersecretary and Board of Investments (BoI) managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said companies from different sectors had expressed interest in constructing their own power sources. Most are in the manufacturing sector, he added.

Rodolfo said this sector would be greatly impacted by a shift to net-zero carbon due to its commitments to buyers.

The BoI, Philippine Economic Zone Authority and other investment promotion agencies are set to conduct a roadshow for locators about the policy.

Pascual noted that the government was offering incentives for RE projects. Investors, for example, can recover 50 percent of their investment costs over several years.

He added that the country's current power generation mix was already 29 percent renewable, consisting of geothermal, hydro, solar, wind and biomass energy.

"Our goal is to reach 35 percent by 2030, and to reach 50 percent renewable by 2040," Pascual said.

In line with this, the BoI said that the RE and power sector was continuing to dominate the investment approvals landscape.

A total of P607.47 billion in investments was approved for the sector from January to May, a 20.73-percent increase from the previous year's P503.18 billion.

Total investments approved during the period reached P640.22 billion, 14 percent higher than the P562.90 billion in the same period last year.