Philippines co-chairs regional platform for energy service companies

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has been chosen to co-chair a newly-established regional platform for energy service companies (ESCO) to lead and promote knowledge-sharing and investments in energy-savings projects in the Asia-Pacific region.

Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance (PE2) president Alexander Ablaza and China Energy Conservation Association (EMCA) vice director Lily Zhao Ming were elected to co-chair the newly formed Asia-Pacific ESCO Industry Alliance.

According to the Department of Energy (DOE), an ESCO is a business that develops, installs, and arranges financing for projects designed to improve the energy efficiency and maintenance costs for facilities over a seven to 20 year time period, depending on the viability of the proposed project.

The alliance consists of five founding associations from five countries, namely the Philippines, Japan, China, Singapore and Taiwan.

The associations are PE2, ESCO Committee of China Energy Conservation Association (EMCA), Japan Association of Energy Service Companies (JAESCO), Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS) and Taiwan Energy Service Association (TESA).

PE2 and SEAS served as co-convenors of the alliance with the aim of stimulating increased investment in energy-savings projects.

PE2 said the five associations unanimously agreed to form the Asia-Pacific ESCO Industry Alliance, “which shall serve as a regional platform for ESCO markets to facilitate knowledge exchange, capacity development, business matching, and if deemed feasible, development funding and capital flows between mature, developing and nascent ESCO markets in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Asian Development Bank energy sector chief Yongping Zhai said the multilateral bank is looking forward to discuss ways of how the newly-formed alliance can help ADB introduce innovation in clean energy technologies, business models or financial products to middle-income countries in the region.

Based on International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates for 2016, more than 60 percent of the global ESCO market amounting to $26.8 billion is in Asia.

Of the $26.8 billion global ESCO revenues in 2016, $15.1 billion was earned in China, another $300 million in India, and at least one-third of the $1.9 billion was assumed earned in other Asian markets which include Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and some Southeast Asian economies.

“The center of gravity of the global energy service company market has shifted to Asia – one of the compelling reasons why the ESCO associations of China, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan now agree to establish the Asia-Pacific ESCO Industry Alliance. The ESCO business model is a clearly demonstrated modality to mobilize energy efficiency capital in developing and developed markets, and should be further mainstreamed in the more nascent ESCO markets in the Asia-Pacific region,” Ablaza said.