Philippines to fast track energy projects

Philippines to fast track energy projects

The Department of Energy (DOE) said President Duterte has signed Executive
Order (EO) No. 30 creating an Energy Investment Coordinating Council (EICC)
led by the agency to coordinate efforts to harmonize, integrate and
streamline regulatory processes, requirements and forms for the development
of power investments in the country.

According to the DOE, the EICC will also maintain a database of information
in a web-based monitoring system for information exchange and updates to
uphold transparency and accountability.

"The Council will guide the various agencies in speeding up their regulatory
processes for the fast realization of energy projects to be tagged as
projects of national significance under the Philippine Energy Plan," DOE
secretary Alfonso Cusi said in a statement.

Cusi added the EO provides that government agencies concerned with energy
projects should presume other agencies were able to act upon and issue their
respective permits within a 30-day period, seen to help in identifying
energy projects that need to be built and constructed on schedule.

"The longer the processing of energy projects gets, the more expensive it
becomes, which could also impact on the delivery of energy services and
their affordability. Given that energy investors have complete requirements,
cutting down the period of issuance of permits will certainly speed up the
realization of energy projects," said Cusi.

Aside from the DOE as chair of the EICC, it will also be composed of
representatives from various national government agencies and relevant
energy institutions including the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources, Department of Finance, Department of Justice, Department of
Transportation, National Electrification Administration, National Grid
Corporation of the Philippines, National Power Corp., National Transmission
Corp., Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, Palawan Council for
Sustainable Development and others.

It can be recalled that the DOE first mentioned crafting such EO last year.
Among the projects it is eyeing to fast-track through the EO are the
Visayas-Mindanao power grid interconnection and the Philippine National Oil
Co.'s planned liquefied natural gas facility in Batangas.

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Link to Original Article:
https://malaya.com.ph/business-news/business/ph-fast-track-energy-projects

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com