Business NEWS

Davao Light lines up new substation project

Owing to higher electricity sales and the uptick in oil prices, Yuchengco-led PetroEnergy Resources Corporation (PERC) has posted 31-percent income jump to P506 million in the first half this 2022 from leaner P386 million in the same period last year.

Motorists using diesel in their daily drive to work or other activities will enjoy bigger cuts in their fuel budgets this week, as the price of this commodity will be in rollback by P1.05 per liter, based on the pricing adjustment advisories of the oil companies.

A “coordinated policy-framing” approach with member-economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is being eyed by the Philippines on its targeted nuclear power development, including planned deployment of small modular reactor (SMR) technologies.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is studying prospects of opening up the renewable energy (RE) sector to 100 percent foreign ownership, primarily in the domain of solar and wind farm installations, for the manufacturing sector.
Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla raised this possibility as he acknowledged the need to address the high cost of electricity for the manufacturing sector, which investment potential has been hampered by the country’s high cost of electricity.

Filipino consumers can continue to breathe a sigh of relief, however tiny the rollback maybe, on their weekly fuel budgets as pump prices are due to come down again by Tuesday, Aug. 16, based on the calculation of the oil companies.

MIESCOR Infrastructure Development Corporation (MIDC), a joint venture between Manila Electric Company (Meralco) subsidiary MIESCOR and New York-headquartered Stonepeak, indicated that the former will acquire 2,180 towers and related passive telecom infrastructure from Ayala-led Globe under a sale and leaseback agreement valued at P26.2 billion.

Owing to disrupted fuel supply in its gas-fired power plants due to the depleting state of the Malampaya gas field, the recurring net income of First Gen Corporation in the first half decelerated by 13 percent to P6.6 billion ($128 million) from a rosier financial outcome of P7.8 billion ($148 million) in the same period last year.

Food manufacturer Monde Nissin Corporation (MNC) has inked a power supply agreement (PSA) with Energy Development Corporation (EDC), for it to source electricity supply from a renewable energy-generated resource.

The Department of Energy (DOE) will re-take “baby steps” and will push for “corrective policies” to entice fresh capital flow in the country’s upstream oil and gas sector, especially in areas not encumbered by territorial disputes.

The legislative lever of Congress is sought on the proposed revamping of the multi-tiered taxes in the power sector to reduce the pass-on tariff in the electric bills of consumers by as much as P1 per kilowatt hour.

After a string of losses that stretched until January-March this year, Uy-led Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. finally returned to profitability in the second quarter, posting a net income of P201 million, its highest since the strike of the coronavirus pandemic.

A re-entry of state-run Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) into oil marketing and trading has been proposed, so that government can position itself as the “price leader” that can offer cheaper petroleum products not just to public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers but even to the wider constituency of commercial and industrial end-users.

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation’s (PSPC) net income surged to P7.8 billion in the first half, a phenomenal surge from P2.2 billion in the same period last year and also surpassed the scale of profitability of its biggest competitor, driven by the weekly seesaw in prices at the domestic pumps and upticks in sales volume.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is prodded to submit to the Senate and make public the P266-million nuclear power development study, which results have been unavailable until now.
In a public hearing, Senate Committee on Energy Chairman Raffy Tulfo has formally requested current Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla to furnish the legislators a copy of the government-funded nuclear feasibility study that was commissioned during the term of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.
Lotilla also conveyed that “right now, we don’t know what happened to the study – what the results are, and we’re trying to find out exactly if there was an output.”
The DOE chief acknowledged that the previous administration actually commissioned a study, but said “I still haven’t seen it and Senator Win (Sherwin Gatchalian) was saying – Congress provided certain amount for the conduct of that study.”
This was confirmed by former Senate Committee on Energy Chairman Sherwin T. Gatchalian, stating “We appropriated close to P266 million for the study of the possibility of injecting nuclear power into our grid.”
He expounded that the allocation for the study “was actually an amendment from the Senate to include that amount precisely to formulate a study and use science-based evidence, data as well as research to come up with an educated recommendation to the Senate and also to the President”
Gatchalian, likewise, said “Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any output of that study and P266 million is no small amount, so I would like to support the message of the Chairman that the study should be brought out to the open and make everyone understand what is the result of that study.”
Tulfo primarily inquired if the regulatory frameworks, policy toolbox as well as the safety measures of the “nuclear renaissance” ambition of the Philippines are already in place if the government will seriously pursue this as an added technology option in the energy mix.
At this stage though, Lotilla only noted that the “the previous administration created a body to explore a nuclear power policy, so we want to build on whatever has already been done; and to make sure that whatever feasibility study in the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant is done by an independent, credible consultant with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) guidance.”
The energy secretary asserted that the instruction of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was to ensure “safety standards” and to “comply with all strengthened requirements imposed by the IAEA; especially after the Fukushima incident in Japan.”
“If a developed country like Japan could suffer an accident like that (nuclear meltdown in 2011), how do we ensure that in the case of the Philippines, we can in fact live up to the standards that we will impose upon ourselves?,” said Lotilla.
The Duterte administration attempted to revive the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant and had likewise entertained alternatives of deploying small modular reactors (SMRs) – even if these are still at “experimental or pilot phases” in many countries.

To integrate expanded renewable energy (RE) ventures into its corporate structure, Leviste-led Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corporation (SPNEC) is seeking green light from its board of directors, to have the company renamed to SP New Energy Corporation.

The coal moratorium policy will be sustained under the Marcos administration, Energy Secretary Raphael Perpetuo Lotilla declared.

As issues are raised that businessman Dennis Uy cannot legally sell the 45 percent operating stake in the Malampaya project because its deal with Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX) was never consummated,