ERC joins Southeast Asia Energy Transition Partnership

MANILA, Philippines — The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has partnered with Southeast Asia Energy Transition Partnership (ETP) to accelerate energy transition in the Philippines.

ERC chairperson and CEO Agnes Devanadera said that the partnership agreement aims to ensure that energy transition is accounted for in the design for energy sector regulations.

“This collaboration with ETP in the form of a partnership would be of mutual benefit and will, therefore, increase the effectiveness for both of our agencies in terms of fulfilling our respective mandates and functions in relation to moving towards a low carbon energy system,” Devanadera said.

Under the agreement, both parties aim to form a framework of cooperation and facilitate collaboration on a non-exclusive basis initially for five years in areas of common interest in accelerating energy transition in the Philippines.

ETP would provide technical assistance to ERC in areas such as, but not limited to, operating and performance standards for renewable energy (RE) generators; energy efficiency; strategic regulatory review, etc. to aid the latter in formulating regulations responsive to the purpose of energy transition and moving toward a low carbon economy and to facilitate the Philippines’ achieving its stated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).

On the other hand, ERC would undertake the assessment of regulatory options to pursue a low carbon energy system and setting the leading parameters for the investments and competencies required to move to such a modern system.

“This partnership agreement with ETP is another milestone for ERC and will be of great help towards the achievement of the NDC target of reducing carbon emissions by 75 percent by the year 2030,” Devanadera added.

Under the Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) 2020-2040, the DOE has set a target to increase the RE share in the power generation mix to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.

As of end-2020, RE cornered 21 percent of the country’s total power generation mix while coal dominated the mix with 57.2 percent.

Based on the government’s Clean Energy Scenario outlined in the Philippines Energy Plan 2020-2040, the archipelago needs to add at least 92 gigawatts (GW) of RE to its energy mix to reach the 50 percent mark by 2040.

The government is currently updating this to PEP 2021-2040, which will be formulated to boost clean energy investments and financing mechanisms that will eventually wean the country from its dependence on carbon fuels.

Hosted under the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), ETP is a multi-stakeholder platform that aims to accelerate energy transition and deliver the Paris Agreement targets on climate change by engaging governmental partners and philanthropic donors to support the energy transition in the Southeast Asian region through blended finance with capacity building and technical assistance support.