In an attempt to boost renewable energy (RE) in the country by projects under natural sources of energy, BDO Unibank Inc. emphasized the need for more battery storage and incentives for liquefied natural gas (LNG).

While banks like BDO are open to helping finance renewable energy (RE) programs based on their viability and structure, Eduardo Francisco, president of BDO Capital & Investment Corp., said that they want to see projects that can produce more storage for intermittent power.

“There’s a lot of financing in renewables. I will only see a project when there’s approvals and viability… But I’m not seeing enough battery [storage systems],” he said during a forum held by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP).

Francisco noted that while many renewable energy stakeholders are developing solar and wind projects, these sources will remain intermittent without adequate storage solutions. This makes energy storage a crucial element for achieving sustainability in the energy sector.

Furthermore, he noticed that they have yet to see liquefied natural gas (LNG) incentives, which is considered to be a cleaner version of the fossil fuel as it produces lesser emissions.

“There are not enough incentives for LNG, it’s all coal… While it’s so much risk, that’s something for you to think about,” he added.

The BDO chief assured that banks will continue to help in renewable financing, but blockages and lack of other green energy facilities may slow down the goal to boost RE in the country.

Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DOE) estimated that trillions of pesos will be needed to finance renewable energy (RE) that would transition the country’s energy mix.

Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla emphasized that pursuing energy transition will not be cheap.

The estimated value as per Lotilla would be around $500 billion, which converts to P28 billion for the current year.

“For the entire plan, we are looking at hundreds and billions of dollars… If there will be funding that will come in, we can fund all these RE, we can retrofit and phase out the fossil fuel plants, but they require financing,” he emphasized.

Lotilla also underlined that the energy sector is not government-owned and therefore the private sector is tapped to be part of the country’s energy transition.

According to the Philippine Energy Transition Program, the RE share is aimed to become half of the country’s energy mix by 2040, which should improve energy security and affordability for consumers.