Delays in permits, lack of perks hinder RE growth in Philippines – WWF

MANILA, Philippines — Several obstacles such as a lengthy permitting process and the lack of promotions and incentives are hampering the growth of renewable energy in the country, according to a policy report published by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines.

The report, which is based on two formal roundtable discussions organized by WWF-Philippines with representatives from government, civil society, and organizations in the public and private sectors, found that the tedious permitting process has been identified as one of the biggest obstacles to the deployment of renewable energy.

“Just at the initial stage, the requirement for renewable energy developers to secure numerous permits and signatures can already lengthen the permitting process, especially in view of the manner by which these documents have to go through different bureaus, divisions, and agencies,” the report said.

“This process is further lengthened and complicated when these bureaus, divisions, and agencies have clarifications regarding the applications of the renewable energy developers,” it noted.

The Energy Virtual One Stop Shop (EVOSS), however, was identified as one of the renewable energy transition enablers.

The EVOSS was enacted in March 2019 to cut back on lengthy government processes and generate more energy investments in the country.

The report said the insufficient promotion of renewable energy to both the private and public sectors has also led to the lack of familiarity with the various renewable energy policies.

“Participants also pointed out during the roundtable discussions that there are few incentives to entice investors to transition to renewable energy especially since the development of facilities has initially not been a cost-effective endeavor,” the report said.

It said among the recommendation that came out during the discussions was the development of a clearer pathway and outlook in the renewable energy sector to guide prospective investors and to study the inclusion of additional incentives for investments on these technologies to come in.

“There is an urgent need for all stakeholders in the energy sector to come together to address obstacles to the growth of the renewable energy industry so that we can accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels,” WWF-Philippines head of climate and energy program Angela Ibay said.

“Having a stable and robust renewable energy sector will be a great benefit to all Filipinos because it will provide cheaper electricity prices as well as provide a buffer against the volatile global oil supply market,” Ibay said.

The policy report and roundtable discussions are part of WWF-Philippines’ MoRE: Monitoring Renewable Energy Implementation in the Philippines Project that aims to boost the growth of the renewable energy sector.

WWF-Philippines said representatives from the National Renewable Energy Board, Energy Regulatory Commission, National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, National Electrification Administration, Philippine Electricity Market Corp., National Transmission Co., and the Board of Investments, were among the attendees of the roundtable discussions.