The Department of Energy (DOE) is awaiting President Ferdinand Marcos's approval to commence hydrogen exploration in the Philippines as part of the government's ongoing efforts to diversify its energy sources.
On the sidelines of the Stratbase ADR Institute’s Pilipinas Conference 2024, Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla said that the DOE would announce research activities once they receive a green light from the Presidential office.
"I don’t want to preempt the Office of the President from acting on it. Therefore, we will make the announcements when the President has approved it," he told reporters.
Previously, the DOE disclosed that six international firms and three local firms have submitted proposals for both petroleum and hydrogen exploration in Central Luzon.
According to the 2024 Philippine Bid Round, there had been three proposals for one area designated as PDA-PH-1 and two proposals for PDA-PH-2. These applications successfully passed the first round of assessments and will move on to the next evaluation stage.
The DOE also noted that this bidding round achieved a significant record for qualified applications in predetermined areas, surpassing the results of the Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR) 5 in 2015 and the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP) from 2018 to 2019.
Additionally, Lotilla announced last week that the energy agency would actively engage with the Ministry of Energy of Saudi Arabia following their memorandum of understanding (MOU), which includes provisions for native hydrogen exploration, among other topics.
He added that the Saudi Energy Minister expressed interest in investigating the Philippines' native hydrogen, with two potential research locations identified in Zambales.
A framework between the two countries is expected to be finalized within the next three months.
Beyond hydrogen developments, the MOU between Saudi Arabia and the Philippines will also encompass petroleum derivatives, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and digital technology for electrical management and energy efficiency.