MANILA, Philippines — State-run Maharlika Investment Corp. and some of the country’s energy companies joined the Philippine delegation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to secure clean energy investments.
The business delegation consisted of ACEN Corp., Aboitiz Power Corp., Citicore Renewable Energy Corp., San Miguel Global Power Holdings and Amber Kinetics.
The Department of Energy (DOE) said yesterday that the Philippine companies held meetings with UAE’s Masdar, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. (ENEC) and the International Renewable Energy Agency on Oct. 15 and 16.
The delegation also met with UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei to negotiate and finalize a memorandum of cooperation on energy transition between the two countries.
“This initiative highlights the Philippines’ commitment to energy diplomacy in its pursuit of energy security and sustainable development,” the DOE said.
The Philippine government and businesses aim to attract Emirati investments in energy infrastructure, renewable energy (RE) and other clean energy sources, including hydrogen and nuclear.
Masdar, a state-owned RE company behind the 32 gigawatts worth of projects in over 40 countries, is particularly keen on developing solar, wind and battery storage projects in the Philippines, the DOE said.
This bodes well with the Philippine government’s target of expanding the share of renewables in the country’s energy mix to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040 from the current 22 percent.
For nuclear development, the DOE said ENEC, which is mandated to lead the implementation of the UAE Peaceful Nuclear Energy Program, could also offer valuable support to the Philippines, particularly in legal and regulatory frameworks.
Under the Philippine Energy Plan, the country wants to have an initial 1,200 megawatts of nuclear capacity by 2032 and expand this to 2,400 MW by 2035 and 4,800 by 2050.
To achieve these targets, the DOE earlier said the country needs up to P31 trillion in investments.
Earlier this week, the Philippines signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Saudi Arabia to further strengthen energy cooperation in key areas such as RE and natural gas.
The MOU will provide a framework for collaboration on power generation as well as relevant technologies and solutions meant to mitigate the impact of climate change.
This followed an agreement signed by the Philippines and South Korea earlier this month for the conduct of a feasibility study on the potential rehabilitation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.
Likewise, the strategic partnership will also explore other technologies and possible alternative sites for nuclear energy development.