Patrick Zhu

Managing Director, Maoneng Philippines International Corporation

Conversation Highlights

Currently we have an ongoing project to CCLEX the new and longest bridge in the Philippines also owned by Metro Pacific

In few weeks time we shall be launching BERDE RENEWABLES

There is no single Solar Company focusing on C&I that will be as big as Berde and as aggressive as Berde

GIVE US A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF YOUR COMPANY AND ITS SERVICES.

Maoneng Philippines is part of the Maoneng group based in Australia We are a 100% renewable energy company It was established in the year 2018 with Solar EPC on C&I as its core business.

We are bringing international expertise in the local Philippine Solar market

WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF YOUR MAJOR PROJECTS?

We built our first Megawatt Solar project to RPMC, a manufacturing company with multiple facilities located in Valenzuela and Quezon City. We built the award-winning CALAX Solar Carpark owned by Metro Pacific Tollways, and currently we have an ongoing project to CCLEX the new and longest bridge in the Philippines also owned by Metro Pacific, and in the next few weeks we will build another project to CAVITEX, also under Metro Pacific Wilcon Home Depot, the countries leading retailer on House Improvements and Construction supplies, we have ongoing projects to their 18 sites located nationwide with an aggregate capacity of 5MW Many other big ticket projects are on its way to development

WHAT IS YOUR VIEW ON THE PHILIPPINES' CURRENT SOLAR MARKET? HOW DO YOU SEE IT EVOLVING IN 2023?

Specifically on the C&I segment, the market has reached its maturity stage According to the Department of Energy's data of 2020 the total installed Solar PV system is only 200MW so the market was not yet captured during that time The catalyst for the Solar market boom now are (1) High Electricity Rates, caused by high coal price and diesel price triggered by Ukraine war (2) Strong regulatory support from the government specially the current administration, the increase in net-metering cap from 100kW to 1MW will drive the Solar demand (3) The country is now facing energy crisis due to low power reserves which is likewise keeping the current electricity prices at its record high, the Moratorium on Coal signed a couple of years back and the depletion of Malampaya reserves will all play eliable solution to it, and that's Solar, Solar asiest technology to deploy 2023 will

WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME MILESTONES ACHIEVED BY YOUR COMPANY IN 2022?

Aside from the big projects we completed last year, we are proud to welcome the arrival of Isquared Capital partnering to Maoneng Isquared Capital, being a world-renowned infrastructure equity investor with more than 30 billion USD assets under its diverse global portfolio that includes renewables, just goes to show how these global leading companies are showing confidence and interest to Maoneng. We can't be more happy and proud to this current development, in few weeks time we shall be launching BERDE RENEWABLES, we'll provide Renewable Energy-as-a-solution to the Philippines, we'll be investing heavily on C&I PPA

WHAT ARE THE GROWTH PLANS FOR 2023?

Berde Renewables will only not be competitive but we'll aspire to dominate the market, we'll be expanding like 400% of our current manpower There is no single Solar Company focusing on C&I that will be as big as Berde and as aggressive as Berde Our plan is to get the lion's share.

AUTHOR:

MR THOMAS JAKOBSEN CEO, Indochina Energy Partners Co., Ltd.

The solar power has been developed massively since 2019 without the corresponding power infrastructure expansion The biggest challenge for investors in Vietnam's renewable energy sector is the country’s lack of national electricity plan, i e promulgation of PDP8

Vietnam has in the 5 years since 2017 seen a total of about 17 GW of PV solar and 6 GW of wind power installed This is a massive achievement by the entire industry and associated stakeholders, hereunder the Vietnamese Government and its’ relevant agencies

EVN has therefore stopped signing PPAs for Solar and Wind projects selling to the grid since the end of 2020/Nov2021

The DPPA scheme in Vietnam has been under development with help from USAID since 2018 and is thus designed to be balanced towards both the consumer and the generator.

In Vietnam, the Direct Power Purchasing Agreement (DPPA) is proposed to be structured as a virtual agreement As the wholesale market has a constantly fluctuating price, the DPPA seeks to provide both the investor (such as Indochina Energy Partners (IEP)) and the consumer with more stable prices by letting us agree a “Contract for Difference” (CfD) - (a purely financial contract) This agreement will protect parties against financial risks caused by fluctuation of electricity market prices, thereby maintaining sustainable investment in renewable energy production.

IEP has played a pivotal role in the development of the DPPA program and has a strong offering that balances the risks of investors and off-takers IEP is looking forward to the launch of the DPPA and expects to be a major force in the implementation of the pilot phase

In October 2022, MOIT has reconfirmed the DPPA model and established a relatively detailed schedule for implementing the pilot scheme.

The government should consider the issuance of the DPPA according to the latest draft That will motivate energy developers to build renewable energy projects from PDP7 The new FiT are at levels offered from EVN in letter 6570 are comparable to other countries in the region and therefore DPPA is a reasonable and sensible alternative

The above recommendations seem to be in line with Prime Minister Chinh’s latest statements on avoiding high Feed-In-Tariffs

Offtakers (e g big FDI companies with large investments in Vietnam) to procure clean Renewable Energy, and thus live up to international sustainability commitments

Investors, such as IEP, to make a reasonable, but not extreme, profit on providing such clean Renewable Energy Allow EVN to focus on making upgrades to the transmission network, and have a very limited financial risk, as no new high FiT are being promised to investors

IEP is always happy to help and advice any investors, equipment manufacturers or electricity off-takers on the DPPA pilot scheme