Offshore

The country is hurrying to change its energy mix. We are aspiring to achieve 35 percent renewable energy (RE) by 2030. After that, we are targeting 50 percent RE by 2040.

Considering the time required to plan energy projects, the targets for raising the share of RE in our energy mix may be considered ambitious. But we want to lead in the global effort to reduce carbon emissions and stall climate change.

Although we contribute only about a third of a percentage point to total emissions, we harvest the most severe impacts of global warming. Recent natural calamities underscore this.

Recently, the Department of Energy (DOE) axed about 100 renewable energy projects. It might seem counter-intuitive, considering the pressing schedules to alter our energy mix. But on closer examination, the move makes sense.

Most of the RE projects axed by the DOE are considered nonperforming. A great number were considered stagnant in the pre-development phase.

DOE Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara explained that the culling of projects on the table is necessary to concentrate on projects that can actually take off. “If any contracts are deemed nonperforming,” she says, “we will open them up to new developers who can effectively bring these projects into fruition. This strategy not only accelerates the development timeline but also strengthens investor confidence in the country’s renewable energy goals.”

The DOE hopes that with the updated regulations released last June, better productivity and adherence to timelines could be achieved. By purging non-performers from the list, our energy authorities may clear the pipelines. More viable RE projects may move ahead with full government support.

A study reveals that the most common reason stalling some projects is land acquisition. This is understandable. The country simply does not have enough land to supply every need.

Apart from difficulties in land acquisition, potential investors face other hurdles in the often cumbersome energy auction, inadequate port facilities and grid availability. The DOE is trying to clear these other hurdles.

The solution to land scarcity, it appears, is to push RE projects offshore. Recently, the DOE awarded Certificates of Confirmation of Commerciality to three offshore wind projects. The project consortium is composed of local developer Triconti Windkraft Group in strategic partnership with Sea Wind Holdings of Liechtenstein and the Swiss group Stream Invest Holding.

The consortium’s 1,650-MW wind power project will be included in the country’s first Green Energy Auction for Offshore Wind to be held next year. The projects are located off the coasts of Cavite and Bataan as well as the Guimaras Strait Projects I and II between the coasts of Panay and Negros Occidental.

With the DOE’s confirmation, these projects now move from the preliminary studies stage into the 20-year planning-to-production operation stage, making energy transition feasible.

Metro Clark

Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation, operator of the sanitary landfill project in Capas, Tarlac, explains its side on the controversy over the issuance of a TRO in its favor by the Capas RTC.

As discussed in this space last week, the Capas RTC granted Metro Clark’s petition for a TRO that retains the status quo in Metro Clark’s 100-hectare sanitary landfill. Earlier, the Angeles City RTC rejected the same petition for having no basis and for forum shopping. Nothing in the original contract states that the owners of the land are obligated to extend the lease.

The Capas sanitary landfill serves hundreds of local governments and industries in Central Luzon. It original lease has expired. Clark Development Corporation (CDC), which owns the land, has decided to reuse the land for other purposes, most notably to make way for billions in new investments in a rising tourism zone.

In its statement, Metro Clark says it welcomes the Capas court’s action regarding its petition for judicial relief. The statement reiterates that for 25 years the company strove to deliver on all its contractual obligations to government. It mobilized additional capital investments to efficiently provide efficient service to its clientele in Central and Northern Luzon.

Metro Clark reiterates that over its contract period, the company did not violate environmental laws and never missed in its financial obligations to the CDC. The petition for TRO is part of the company’s “recourse” in seeking a “judicious process in connection with our ongoing business concerns.”

Metro Clark is assuring its clientele of “continuing service until such time that all legal issues are decided with finality.” The company is obviously seeking a judicially mediated solution to its standoff with the CDC.

The Capas RTC granted the petition for injunction, prescribing a P5-million bond posted by Metro Clark. The bond is “to answer for all damages which all herein defendants may sustain by reason of the injunction.”

The writ states that it was “established through the manifestations and testimonies of the parties that they are in “agreement (expressly and/or impliedly) that there can be no force, violence, threat, coercion or intimidation but only legal means in imposing one’s will toward the other.” The wording of the writ appears to restrain the CDC from taking any action to assert control over the landfill area until after all the legal issues are finally cleared.

As a consequence of the court’s injunction, Metro Clark will proceed with business as usual in the sanitary landfill. All the projects the CDC may have lined up for reuse of the land will have to wait.