ENERGY executives in the Philippines cited “community opposition” as a major hurdle to implementing energy projects and expressed concerns that such frictions could potentially hinder the country’s transition to greener energy.

Research firm GHD, citing the results of a study, said 76% of Philippine energy industry leaders identified community opposition as among the “biggest barriers” in pursuing energy projects.

About 82% said energy security is their top concern, higher than the global average of about 75%, the study found.

The inability to initiate energy projects without encountering opposition at the project site may slow the transition to greener forms of energy, Lucas Blight, GHD’s technical director and Future Energy coordination lead for Asia-Pacific, said in a statement.

“The Philippines is facing a rapid energy transition and is charting a course into new energy territories with changing energy blends. As a net importer of energy, the Philippines is vulnerable to supply shocks.”

“Philippine leaders point to community opposition as being one of the biggest barriers to getting new energy projects that could help tackle the crisis approved and off the ground,” the report said.

It said any disruption to the global energy supply would leave many countries with over two months’ supply of fuel on average.

“There is a need for integrated solutions that provide energy security and reduce emissions at the same time as generating low-cost power to fuel continued economic growth. For example, many of the country’s islands are dependent on diesel generators — which can be progressively replaced with renewable micro-grids,” Mr. Blight said.

Recently, the National Power Corp. signed a partnership with the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry to study the feasibility of green hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in off-grid areas. 

The study also found that half of the world’s energy industry executives consider their net-zero goals to have been delayed by about six years on average.

GHD said the study was based on a survey of 450 respondents who are senior energy industry decision-makers, with input from interviews of 10 industry thought leaders. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

ENERGY Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla called on developed countries to ensure a “just” transition to green technology for poorer countries, citing the need for low-cost financing and technology transfers.

“We hope our development partners and countries like Sweden would assist us not only in making the private sector share technology and access to innovation, but also to assist the Philippines in terms of securing favorable financing that would allow us to build the necessary infrastructure,” Mr. Lotilla said at an energy forum the Department of Energy (DoE) co-organized with the Embassy of Sweden.

Mr. Lotilla said technology is constantly developing, leaving the government the task of selecting which tech is most suitable for the Philippines’ green energy transition.

“First of all, green transition for a developing country like the Philippines must be a just transition; it must be a fair transition and therefore we must avoid transferring the burden of climate transition to an already overburdened Philippine population,” he said. 

Mr. Lotilla said that aside from harnessing indigenous renewable energy resources, the Philippines must also turn to liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a transition fuel while evaluating the various forms of technology available.

“We have to take full advantage of all sources of energy that are currently in place and to use them in a wise manner. At the same time, we need to be able to transition to a cleaner environment. And this we address by making sure that the additional capacities that we need will be sourced from renewable and greener sources of energy,” Mr. Lotilla said. 

He said that the Philippines cannot as yet transition away from coal-fired power plants, though the government must prepare for coal-fired energy to be phased out eventually.

“There is no denying that we need them still. But we have placed them in a trajectory (in which), clearly, over time, they are going to be replaced.,” Mr. Lotilla said. — Ashley Erika O. Jose