Almost P1.2 trillion investments approved for green lane processing – BOI

MANILA, Philippines — Nearly P1.2 trillion worth of strategic investment projects have been approved for green lane processing since the approval of the executive order on the establishment of green lanes services, according to the Board of Investments (BOI).

“Since the approval of EO 18 in February 2023 OSACSI (One-Stop Action Center for Strategic Investments) has endorsed a total of 36 projects for green lane services, 28 of which are renewable energy projects (i.e., floating solar, solar, onshore wind, offshore wind and geothermal),” BOI director Ernesto Delos Reyes Jr. said in a viber message to reporters.

He said that overall, the projects are worth P1.197 trillion.

Last year, 23 projects were approved for green lane processing worth P498.91 billion. The bulk of the projects or 16 were renewable energy projects.

For this month alone, the BOI-OSACSI already approved 13 projects worth P697.98 billion for green lane processing.

Among the projects approved this month include Jet Stream Windkraft Corporation’s P110.88 billion Guimaras Strait II wind power projectl; Triconti Southern Wind Corporation’s P110.88 billion Guimaras Strait wind power project; PV Sinag Power Inc.’s P4.8 billion Cayanga-Bugallon Solar Power Project; and EDOTCO Towers’ P150 billion common and shared telecommunications infrastructure project.

The BOI also approved three projects of Philippine Geothermal Production Company. These include the P5.03 billion Daklan Geothermal Power Project, the P6.66 billion Mt. Labo Geothermal Power Project, and the P7.58 billion Mt. Malinao Geothermal Power Project.

Two projects of CINMF Ph. Corp. were also approved for green lane processing, particularly the P108.32 billion 650-MW Samar Norte Offshore Wind Power Project and the P162.915 billion 1,000 MW San Miguel Bay Offshore Wind Project.

Other projects approved for green lane processing in January include Pan Pacific Power Phils. Corp.’s P689 million Cagua-Baua Geothermal Power Project; Burgos Pangasinan Solar Energy Corporation (BPSEC)’s P2.74 billion Burgos Pangasinan Solar Power Project; Northern Sun Power, Inc.’s P18.17 billion Currimao Solar Power Project; and AP Renewable Energy Corp.’s P8.8 billion Olongapo Solar Power Project.

In February last year, the Office of the President approved Executive Order 18 which aims to hasten, simplify, and automate the permit and license application processes for strategic investments. The measure was officially launched in July of the same year.

Green lanes aim to hasten, simplify, and automate the permit and license application processes for strategic investments in the Philippines.

The BOI recently awarded the green lane certificate of endorsement for the P22.6 billion floating solar power project of Fuego Renewable Energy Corp. (FREC) that will soon rise in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija.

BOI Governor Marjorie Ramos-Samaniego handed the Green Lane Certificate of Endorsement to Aristotle Natividad, president of FREC, in a brief awarding ceremony on Jan. 18. The BOI-OSACSI approved the project for green lane processing in December.

The company is set to build the Pantabangan Floating Solar Power Plant, a 463.995 megawatts (MWac) floating solar photovoltaic (PV) project in Nueva Ecija.

According to the BOI, the project, spanning 500 hectares on Pantabangan Lake, is scheduled for commissioning in 2025, with its energy output destined for export to the National Grid.