Renewable

We are making impressive gains in shifting to renewables for our energy needs.

Despite steelmaking being an energy-intensive industry, for instance, the country’s dominant SteelAsia Manufacturing Corporation sources 77 percent of its power needs from renewable energy sources. The company now has seven plants operating nationwide and makes nearly 80 percent of the country’s high tensile strength rebar needs.

Recently, the country’s largest power distribution utility, Meralco, formed a partnership with SP New Energy Corporation (SPNEC). This is considered a breakthrough in the wider use of renewable energy.

The partnership now makes SPNEC the vehicle for the development of solar panel fields generating over 3,000 MW of power. SPNEC will likewise build battery energy storage systems in Luzon capable of storing about 4,000 megawatt-hours of power. New battery storage systems make it possible for renewable energy to be stored, vastly improving its reliability.

Under the terms of the new energy partnership, Meralco is expected to inject close to P16 billion in fresh capital for SPNEC by way of share subscription. This will give Meralco control of the fledgling RE firm.

The Marcos administration has been aggressively pushing for the wider use of renewable energy. Last August, the President ordered wider exploration of all RE sources to support the countryside development. Government set ambitious targets increasing the share of green energy in the country’s power generation mix to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent in the succeeding decade.

President Marcos, in his second SONA, seeks to achieve a 100 percent electrification rate by 2028. As the costs of generating renewable energy becomes more competitive, this should be an eminently achievable goal.

The group of companies headed by tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan (MVP) has taken the country’s renewable energy goals to heart. All across the MVP group of companies, the progressive shift to renewables has been pushed consistently.

Even before the partnership with SPNEC was sealed, Meralco had invested in a 55 MW solar plant in Bulacan and a 75 MW solar farm in Rizal. Earlier this year, Meralco, in partnership with Vena Energy, inaugurated a 68 MW solar farm in President Marcos’ home province.

Meralco’s shift to renewables goes beyond solar. The giant distribution utility is working hard to maximize other potential RE sources.

The company already has a existing joint venture agreement with Blue Energy Holdings for the development of more hydroelectric power plants. Meralco’s power generation arm earlier announced plans to invest about P18 billion for various RE projects, including wind.

Apart from Meralco, other MVP companies are making investments in RE. Maynilad last year completed its second 1 MW solar plant at the La Mesa Treatment Plant to reduce its dependence on the grid. Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) has been actively transitioning to solar power for its facilities.

With this large conglomerate putting in investments in RE, the country will be leading the region in the adoption of green energies. This will help arrest global warming.

Mavulis

The Philippine Navy strengthened its Forward Operating Base (FOB) at Mavulis Island, the northernmost island in Batanes overlooking the strategic channel between the country and Taiwan. Senator Francis Tolentino led in the inauguration of the upgraded naval station.

An upgraded FOB at Mavulis Island is one of the priority sites identified in the Philippine Navy’s Strategic Basic Plan 2040. Sen. Tolentino is seeking to fully institutionalize this plan by legislating it. He introduced Senate Bill 6543 to accomplish this.

“The Philippine Navy,” says Tolentino, “has been a bulwark that protected the nation from all sorts of threats… Now that the stakes are higher, I fully understand that you have to be equipped and trained in order to multiply your force and stand ground against those who attempt to trample upon our independence.”

Tolentino serves as chairman of the Senate Special Panel on Maritime and Admiralty Zones. In this capacity, he has pushed for legislation aiming to fortify the country’s legal basis for defining maritime zones and archipelagic sea lanes. “We have to remain steadfast and firm,” Tolentino asserted, “for the long-term benefits of enacting laws for the protection of seas, promotion of sea-based economy, for the welfare of deprived and underprivileged fisher folks and other workers dependent on the gifts of our seas.”

When a commercial vessel rammed a fishing boat in the vicinity of Scarborough Shoal a few weeks ago, killing three Filipino fishermen, Tolentino pushed for a public inquiry into the incident. The offending vessel, on its way to Singapore, abandoned the injured fishermen after the sea accident. The incident, says Tolentino, underscores the urgency for defining archipelagic sea lanes to help protect our small fishing boats from the heavy maritime traffic in the South China Sea.

An incident this weekend, where China Coast Guard vessels rammed Filipino boats supplying our Marine detachment at Ayungin Shoal, should be another reason for increasing the capabilities of our Navy. It will no longer suffice to merely file diplomatic protests in the face of increasing aggression from China’s more intensive naval presence in the South China Sea. Incidents like this last one will only become more frequent as Beijing’s ridiculous territorial claims become more assertive.

For decades, we have neglected building up our Navy and Coast Guard capabilities. Most of our defense resources went to the land forces battling obsolete insurgencies.

President Marcos ordered the procurement of 80 more Coast Guard vessels to help guard our territory. That should only be the beginning.