MANILA -- The demand for cleaner and sustainable power inside the country's economic zones will inevitably rise as more locators come in, the management of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) said Thursday.

PEZA Project Development Officer Ludwig Daza said that in seven ecozones alone, the monthly energy demand has already reached an average of 389 megawatts (MW).

PEZA has a total of 392 ecozones under its supervision.

The Laguna Technopark, Inc. has posted the highest demand for electricity, with a monthly energy demand of 150 MW, Daza said.

Behind it are the Cavite Economic Zone with a monthly power requirement of about 87 MW; Mactan Economic Zone, 42 MW; First Philippine Industrial Park, 40 MW; Lima Technology Center, 36 MW; Baguio City Economic Zone, 28 MW; and Accenture, Inc., 6 MW.

“With more investments coming in, we expect demand to increase,” Daza said during the Energy Smart 2018 of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.

For the first nine months of 2018, an additional PHP87.8-billion worth of projects were invested in PEZA ecozones.

To encourage energy firms to supply power to PEZA locators, the IPA grants income tax holiday and 5-percent gross income earned incentives, as well as tax and duty-free importation of capital equipment, Daza noted.

He added that these energy firms have to provide the electricity at lower rates.

For instance, the average power rate within ecozones is PHP6 per kilowatt hour (kWh) compared to the PHP10-per-kWh rate outside PEZA-registered zones.

Moreover, PEZA is providing incentives, such as tax and duty-free importation of solar panels, for ecozone locators that wish to generate their own electricity.

Daza said 24 companies currently applying for perks seek power self-reliance through the installation of solar panels. (PNA)

Article was originally published on October 26, 2018 on the Philippines News Agency online