The government's National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) seeks to increase the renewable energy­based capacity of the Philippines to 15,304 megawatts (MW) by 2030 from 5,438 MW in 2010, a ranking energy official said at the Philippine­German Bioenergy Market Development press conference yesterday.

In her presentation, Ruby de Guzman, officer­in­charge of the Department of Energy's Biomass Energy Management Division Renewable Energy Management Bureau, said the Philippines is committed in harnessing and utilizing energy from renewable energy sources.

"The NREP serves as the energy sector's roadmap to develop sustainable energy system and access to clean and green energy. It seeks to increase the renewable energy based capacity of the Philippines from 5,438 MW in 2010 to 15,304 MW by 2030. On a per technology basis, the NREP intends to deliver additional 276.7 MW biomass power capacity by 2015," De Guzman said.

Of the different RE sources, biomass is considered to have high degree of importance considering the potential benefits the country can derive through its increased utilization. It can likewise be considered as a solution to the energy challenges of the future.

"With a robust agricultural sector, the country generates substantial volume of biomass resources which can be tapped or utilized for productive use. The projected increase in solid waste generation in the country can likewise be considered as an opportunity to tap waste as an energy source. Furthermore, the utilization of various energy crops as biomass feedstock for power generation may open possibilities for the country," De Guzman said.

For biomass alone, there is a total potential power generation capacity of 4,450 MW in the Philippines, the bulk of which will be coming from Luzon at 2,094 MW, data from the DOE showed.

"The total number, however, may go down once the final review is done. The initial results reveal that a significant portion of the country's biomass resource potential remains to be tapped to meet the growing demand for power," she noted.

The Philippines has strong self­interest in the advancement of clean energy technologies and has the potential to become a role model for other developing nations on account of its broad portfolio of biomass energy resources, De Guzman said.

"The increased utilization of the country's biomass resources will move us one step closer towards attaining the country's renewable energy goals," she added.

During yesterday's briefing, experts from both the Philippines and Germany said the market for energy from biomass and biogas is growing in the Philippines, and with the' release of the feed­in tariffs and the net­metering rules and interconnection standards by the Energy Regulatory Com­ mission, the regulatory process is established.

Because of this demand for bio­ energy, the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) organized the fourth business trip of German renewable energy companies to the Philippines which started on Monday and will run up to April 4.

Source: The Philippine Star, 02 April 2014