DoE declares Philippines 'neutral' on power plant tech

DoE declares Philippines 'neutral' on power plant tech

THE PHILIPPINES is "technology neutral" in pursuing energy projects, the
Department of Energy (DoE) told participants of a ministerial meeting in Abu
Dhabi on Tuesday, taking overseas its stance of avoiding quotas on the
resources used in putting up a power plant.

DoE Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi told participants of the 15th Ministerial
Meeting of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) that the Philippines "will
be technology neutral as we need all forms of energy resource to fuel our
economic growth."

"We continue to work with other countries to ensure a strong enabling
environment which will encourage greater investment, especially in renewable
forms of energy, as well as other conventional forms of energy," he said in
a statement quoting a speech he delivered during the meeting.

In his speech, Mr. Cusi also highlighted the department's tack to follow a
power capacity mix of 70% baseload, 20% mid-merit and 10% peaking, referring
to categories that take into account the country's electricity requirement
on a 24-hour basis, or when demand spikes as well as when supply peaks. He
also cited a required reserve of 25% for the country's power grids.

Mr. Cusi said his department's pursuit of a natural gas infrastructure
network to take advantage of its reliability, viability and environmentally
friendly benefits, including lower greenhouse gas emissions. He said natural
gas infrastructure "demands long-term planning, sustained investment and
cooperative efforts."

He said energy projects are treated as "projects of national significance"
in the Philippines, which is one of the founding members of ACD.

"The policy assures the timely implementation of energy and power projects,
which will subsequently address the energy supply deficiency and ease the
rising cost of power in the country," Mr. Cusi said.

The DoE said the ministerial meeting had come up with the "Abu Dhabi
Declaration," which outlined an eight-point agreement to be adopted by the
participating countries.

It said the agreements include energy-water-food security nexus; the
facilitation and promotion of energy investment, research and development;
and the creation of new economic opportunities and markets across Asia.

The declaration also agreed on increasing energy access and connectivity
across Asia; developing and integrating timely and coherent risk management
systems for energy, water and food security; and facilitation of knowledge
sharing, technology transfer and capacity building.

The other ACD members are Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei
Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan,
Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal,
Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka,
Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekiztan and Vietnam.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Economy&title=doe-declares-p
hl-&145neutral&8217-on-power-plant-tech&id=139353

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com