Securing the energy of a nation

Energy security is national security.

That, in a nutshell, was the gist of the discussion in the recent webinar entitled “National Energy Security: Reliability and Resiliency in the New Normal” hosted by the UP Vanguard Inc.

The UP Vanguard Inc., from the University of the Philippines, started as a fraternity (the “Diamonds and Studs” fraternity) in 1922, composed of those enrolled in both Basic and Advance ROTC courses. On March 29, 1952, it was further revitalized as an alumni organization composed of graduates of the UP ROTC Advance Courses, and, in 1963, was incorporated as a non-stock, non-profit corporation.

Since its founding, it has had a long and stellar history of involvement in nation-building and has produced many distinguished members, both in the private and public sectors of society.

This webinar is the third in a series of webinars being hosted by the UP Vanguard Inc. as part of its advocacy to provide answers and possible solutions to challenging issues affecting the Philippines. The first webinar tackled national health security, while the second webinar dealt with disaster governance as part of the national security agenda.

In this webinar on national energy security, it was hoped that possible ways and solutions to national energy security challenges be discussed from the collective insights and expertise of the invited panelists and reactors.

We all know that this COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted local and international supply chains as well as infrastructure for consumers and businesses. Add to that the specter of climate change and the clamor from consumers and businesses for answers and possible solutions grows as the days go by.

Some energy security challenges that needed to be addressed are the reliability of the country’s international oil supply chain, the development and exploitation of renewable energy (RE) sources and technology, the archipelagic nature of the country, which is a major hindrance in developing a truly national power grid to lower the cost of electricity for businesses and consumers, and the looming threat of climate change.

The panelists were: former Energy Secretary Dr. Francisco Viray, former Energy Secretary lawyer Raphael Lotilla, and Gil Quiñones, the outgoing CEO of the New York Power Authority and the incoming CEO of Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) in Illinois.

The reactors were: PunoLaw Senior Partner and former Energy Undersecretary Jose “Jay” Layug, Monte Oro Resources Energy Inc. SEVP and petroleum geologist Jose Raymund Apostol; and Zola Electric CEO Bill Lenihan.

Energy security, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), is “the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price.” Energy security has many aspects: long-term energy security mainly deals with timely investments to supply energy in line with economic developments and environmental needs, while short-term energy security focuses on the ability of the energy system to react promptly to sudden changes in the supply-demand balance.

The first panelist, Dr. Francisco Viray, defined energy security as “the availability of all parts of the value chain of an energy system or electricity system.” And availability meant being there when you needed it.

This discussion on national energy security was apropos and very timely. Energy price and supply problems abound. There was power supply shock in China, the US, India, and Europe. The power crisis in China could very well happen here. And, at that time, we were on our eighth straight week of rising oil prices.

Thus, energy security is a very urgent issue that must be addressed. There is digitalization and future infrastructure in the new normal, energy sources and distribution, legal concerns involving Malampaya, and other geopolitical issues and maritime issues involving the West Philippine Sea.

Suffice it to say that some of the ideas that were discussed and presented were not entirely novel. Perhaps there was only a need for someone to take stock of these and to properly implement them.

The country has a plethora of laws on energy and related to energy. We are not wanting in this regard. Perhaps just the political will to be able to move forward with these laws and policies.

Former Energy Secretary Lotilla commented that it takes a crisis for us to move forward with reforms in the case of the Philippines. If this is the result of a crisis then so be it, he added, but if we already see the train moving towards us then it is best that we react soonest.

A question was asked about the effect of crypto mining on energy consumption. Quiñones commented that it’s controversial right now in New York because it’s an energy-intensive load and shared the experience about directly connecting them to fossil-powered plants while the whole state is trying to decarbonize.

Another question was also raised — the elephant in the room, so to speak — on the potential of nuclear power using small or modular nuclear reactors and technology. Former Energy Secretary Lotilla said that we should not ban but be open to new technologies and that the success of nuclear energy in the Philippines is dependent on the trust of the people that their government would govern well. Former Energy Undersecretary Layug said that under the competitive selection process (CSP), if nuclear would offer the best price, then why not, but until today that competitive pricing is not yet seen. Nuclear power is clean in terms of carbon emissions but what to do with its waste is another matter.

All in all, I am glad that discussions such as these are being held, even regularly, because as long as such issues, concerns, and challenges like energy security are being openly discussed, something is definitely being done about it.

We hope that all these go beyond mere talk and become, pardon the pun, electrifying.