The Department of Energy (DOE) will be issuing policy guidelines that will lay down the framework of incentives for targeted hydrogen-anchored investments in the country.

According to Atty Patrick T. Aquino, director of the DOE’s Energy Utilization Management Bureau (EUMB), the draft guidelines on the propounded set of incentives for the emerging hydrogen industry will be released by the department next month – that way, the prospective investors and other relevant stakeholders can share their respective insights and comments “on how we would operationalize the targeted investments in this sector.”

He qualified that the pressing issues being sorted within the level of the DOE revolve around pricing concerns; and how the volumes of hydrogen would be measured when they are used for various applications.

“The draft policy to be issued (by the DOE) will guide investors on how they can avail of incentives and how we would operate this sector,” Aquino said.

The energy official emphasized that it is still being weighed prudently if the eventual policy for hydrogen will be firmed up via a Department Circular or there would be proposed Executive Order that will be issued by President Marcos.

In offshore markets that are already advancing on their experiments with hydrogen deployments, there are already proofs-of-concept that hydrogen can be used for the retrofit of gas plants, storage option for renewables or even industrial applications -- including those of refineries, petrochemical plants and even the transport sector.

And in the flourishing world of renewable energy (RE), hydrogen is also the ‘rising star’ when it comes to potential technology coupling for resources that have intermittent or on-and-off nature of electricity generation – primarily solar and wind.

He indicated that the focal points of discussions within DOE delve with possibility of linking the hydrogen investment perks depending on the sector or industries of application that the sponsor-firms will be venturing into.

Aquino cited that, for instance, if hydrogen will be used as storage system for renewables, then the incentives could be tied to those that are already offered to investors under the Renewable Energy Act.

And if hydrogen will be utilized for the retrofit of existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating assets, primarily the gas plants, then the investment perks being applied to the power sector may also be enforced.

He added that for other configurations, including the use of hydrogen in the transport sector, the incentives under the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (EVIDA) could be applied; or if the technology will offset other fossil fuels like diesel or gasoline, then incentives under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act or Republic Act 11285 may be administered.

Aquino pointed out these preliminarily-discussed policy directions for the hydrogen sector “would still be polished and subject to modifications after we present them for public consultations…we will listen to what the prospective investors would be saying.”