Taking off from a two decade strategic partnership, the Philippines and South Korea are strengthening cooperation and prospective business tie-up on array of energy investments, including electric vehicle (EV) deployments and further rollout of energy efficiency initiatives, foray into innovative technologies like hydrogen development as the energy sector’s fuel of the future, and helping the Philippines on its plan to re-embrace nuclear technology in its power mix.
In his opening remarks at the 2022 Korea-Philippines Energy Forum which coincided with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Consciousness Month, Energy Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella renewed his call on the South Korean investors to reinvigorate their interest on injecting fresh capital into the Philippine energy sector.
The strengthening of collaboration between the two countries serves as a follow-through to the bilateral discussion Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit last month, in which they discussed prospective accord on energy investments – primarily on nuclear energy and renewable energy (RE) installations, including offshore wind which is reckoned as the ‘next frontier’ of investments in the Philippine energy sector.
The speakers from both countries extensively examined the shifting geopolitics of energy; the implication of high energy prices to consumers; the constraints on supply chain and infrastructure developments; as well as the economic turbulence that could affect energy technology deployments under the ‘Industry 4.0’ paradigm as well as on overall investments moving forward.
According to Fuentebella, “the holding of the forum is symbolic of the decades-old relationship of the Philippines and Korea which has evolved into a strategic partnership.”
The energy official chiefly stated the Philippine government’s desire for this partnership to escalate into a stronger relationship, “particularly in expanding Korean investments in the Philippine energy sector.”
Soonchang Hong, Minister Counselor of the Korean Embassy, qualified that “the importance of energy has recently been highlighted due to the global supply chain disruption, climate change and the 4th industrial revolution.”
Between the two countries, South Korea is to a large extent the "more mature energy market" be it on clean technology ventures like EVs or on trailblazing hydrogen fuel development; and more so on nuclear power installations. Hence, this is an Asian neighbor economy that the Philippines can lean on not just for investments but also on wrapping its mind around major takeaways that it can apply in advancing developments in the domestic energy scene.
Counselor Hong said “the forum is a great opportunity to deepen understanding of energy policies and technologies, and seek practical ways to cooperate in the energy sector between the two countries.”
The event had drawn roughly 100 participants from various energy stakeholders from both countries – including private energy firms, state-owned enterprises, car manufacturing firms, research and development (R&D) institutes as well as experts and other professionals in the field.
Dr. Sanglim Lee, research fellow at the Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI), emphasized that “energy is emerging as a core factor in national security and carbon neutrality.”
He detailed out the five goals of South Korea along that sphere – including game plans to: establish a feasible and reasonable energy mix to include nuclear power and renewable energy; secure strong resources and energy security; realize energy efficiency improvement and market structure based on market mechanisms; promote the export of energy technology and foster new growth engines such as nuclear power, hydrogen, and solar and wind power; and to enhance energy welfare and policy acceptance.
Given Korea’s heavy reliance on imported energy, Gayon Kim, manager of the Korean Energy Agency (KEA), similarly zeroed in on the traction their country has been gaining with the enforcement of energy efficiency measures – including investments on energy-saving facilities in industries; integration of energy efficient designs in construction of buildings; propagation of high efficient and environment-friendly vehicles for transport; on top of stimulating lifestyle changes for consumers by encouraging them to shift into energy efficient appliances, such as LED lighting and inverter technologies.
On the EV rollout space, Dr Jongsu Kang, director of the Korea Automotive Technology Institute (KATECH), indicated that “the Korea government is supporting the development of electric shuttle bus for ASEAN.”
Specifically for the Philippine market, Taeyoung Kwak, senior manager of Kia corporation, disclosed that Kia and KATECH are proceeding with the design and development of electrified purpose built vehicle (PBV) , which is expected to be delivered by 2025.
Nuclear power installations is another strategic area of investment that Korea has been setting its sights on, including continued collaboration on any proposed repowering of the idled Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) as well as targeted deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) which would be ideal for the off-grid domains of the Philippines.
Chaeyoung Lim, vice president of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), specified that they are developing the system integrated modular advanced reactor (SMART), which is Korea’s own technology experiment on SMR – and that enabled it to join the league of more than 70 prototypes of SMRs currently being pioneered and tested on by various energy markets globally.
Lim noted their SMART model is “100 times safer than the current nuclear power plants and has competitive economics which acquired standard design approval in 2012.”
For the targeted rollout of the SMART nuclear technology, he conveyed that “KAERI has maintained partnership with other countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Jordan in technology transfer, joint R&D projects, and human resources development.”