Alternergy bets on renewable energy as government’s top choice

By Gabriell Christel Galang – Oct 2, 2024 02:19 PM
from Manila Bulletin

Recent discussions have emerged about expanding nuclear energy in the Philippines, but the government continues to prioritize renewable energy (RE) in adjusting the country’s energy mix.

During the BDO Securities Corp. Series with Alternergy Holdings Corp. on Wednesday, Oct. 2, the clean energy firm expressed confidence that RE will be able to compete with the possibility of nuclear energy being introduced in the country.

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently disclosed a nuclear roadmap for the Philippines, detailing potential developments of a nuclear program with at least 1,200 megawatts (MW) initially entering the energy mix by 2032.

Vicente Perez, Jr.,  Alternergy chairman and co-founder believes that their company’s portfolio and the recent inauguration of their overseas project are a testament to the growing share of clean energy.

“We also believe that our experience in Palau is one way we could become competitive. We’re anticipating some of our future wind and solar projects would be integrated into a battery storage system,” he said.

In 2023, Altenergy inaugurated the Republic of Palau’s first-ever solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) with a 15.3-megawatt peak (MWp) solar PV and 12.9 megawatt-hours (MWh) BESS.

This resulted in a P87.3 in revenues during its six-month operation.

“Our experience in our Palau [project] is an advantage because we worked on how to integrate battery systems to our intermittent power like solar and wind,” Perez added.

Last week, Alternergy shared that there are five projects under construction with a total capacity of 242 MW. This would increase the country’s energy supply by yearend 2025 once they have been completed and begin operations.

The firm is also confident to reach their 500 MW target by 2026