Fitch: PH’s renewable energy policy reforms gaining ground

ThePhilippine government’s policy reforms and measures in strengthening the renewable energy (RE) sector are gaining ground amid the increased interest from the private sector to invest in RE in the country.

In Fitch Solutions Country Risk & Industry Research’s recent commentary on the country’s RE sector, increasing clarity and support for renewables spur investor confidence and attractiveness of the Philippines for foreign firms.

“We believe that the Philippines’ power sector growth will be heavily supported by expanding non-hydropower renewables sector, following increasing commitments by power companies toward renewables and reducing stakes in coal power,” Fitch Solutions said.

The report said that in 10 years, net installed RE capacity in the Philippines will grow from 29.5 gigawatts (GW) to 45.4 GW by 2032, with an annual average growth of 4.4 percent.

“We believe that close to 50 percent of this capacity growth will come from non-hydropower renewables sector, which will experience 7.9 GW in capacity expansion,” it added.

The Fitch Solutions report also shows that with the increasing investments in renewables sector, the share of coal-fired generation plants in net capacity additions over 10 years will decrease.

It forecasted that coal-fired power plants, which have the largest share of more than half of the energy mix in 2022, will be behind new RE installed-capacity within a decade.

Fitch Solutions also cited investment commitments from Philippine conglomerates in renewables.

ACEN, a unit of the Ayala Group, announced it will raise renewable power capacity from 4

GW to 20 GW by 2030.

Its recent divestment from the coal-fired South Luzon Thermal Energy Company has allowed the company to receive PHP7.2 billion funding from the Asian Development Bank for ACEN’s RE projects.

This month, AboitizPower also announced an allocation of PHP190 billion for its clean energy capacity over the coming years.

“The government has been increasingly supportive of renewables through its policies and also by opening the market to private and foreign companies,” Fitch Solutions said.

Last year, the Marcos administration has amended the Renewable Energy Act that now allows full foreign ownership in RE projects.

On Thursday, the Department of Energy awarded three offshore wind energy service contracts to Copenhagen Investment Partners (CIP), a Danish firm that will invest USD5 billion in offshore wind projects in the country.

Jollibee Corp opens 500th outlet in mainland China

Jollibee Foods Corp said on Friday it opened its 500th store in mainland China with its Yonghe King branch located in Shanghai’s Putuo Rong Chuang Xiang Yi area.

In a statement, the group said China is one of its “pillar markets.”

“Opening our 500th store comes with a renewed commitment to continually deliver the same superior-tasting food and, which adheres to the highest standards of food safety and cleanliness. We look forward to serving our great-tasting food through more branches and to more people in Mainland China in the coming years,” said Jollibee Group President Louie Liu.

JFC operates Tim Ho Wan, Yong He King and Hong Zhuang Yuan in China.

“This year, we will continue to open more stores in China as we see potential for more growth. All three of our brands in the region will be debuting in new provinces and cities this year, in line with our vision of becoming one of the top 5 restaurant companies in the world,” said Ernesto Tanmantiong, Jollibee Group President & CEO.

Yonghe King’s new branch is near the Changfeng Ocean World International Theme Park, JFC said. It’s best selling items include minced pork rice and soya milk, which are prepared fresh using non-GMO soybeans, the restaurant operator said.

Jollibee Group said its operates 242 Yonghe King, 58 Hong Zhuang Yuan and 18 Tim Ho Wan in mainland China as of February 2022.