NEA, Toshiba explore building H2One system

By Lenie Lectura – October 19, 2018
from Business Mirror

THE National Electrification Administration (NEA) and Toshiba Energy Systems and Solutions Corp. will explore the possibility of constructing H2One, an autonomous energy supply system that uses renewable energy to produce hydrogen and generate electricity.

NEA and Toshiba signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU)  to collaborate on the development of the first self-sufficient hydrogen energy system in the country. The project includes grant funding from the Japanese government to conduct a feasibility study for the potential installation of the system in selected off-grid areas not connected to the main power grid covered by the electric cooperatives (ECs).

Ernesto Silvano Jr., acting department manager of the NEA Office of Renewable Energy and Development, said beneficiaries for the feasibility study will be chosen from a shortlist of off-grid areas or those belonging to the small power utilities group.

“The project’s main objective is to help in the power supply, increase the power supply in isolated areas, and serve the unenergized areas. This will help the ECs have their own renewable-energy power source and not be dependent on fossil fuel anymore,” Silvano said.

Based on the NEA data, there are 1,702 off-grid areas still without any access to electricity. These are located mainly in Mindanao with 1,003, followed by the Visayas with 557, and Luzon with 142 off-grid areas.

Silvano said some off-grid areas in the country are currently powered by diesel generator sets. He said Toshiba’s hydrogen-based energy system will help bring down electricity rates in an off-grid area.

The MOU was signed on October 15. Signatories to the memorandum were NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong and Toshiba’s Corporate Senior Vice President Fumio Otani.

“Piloting this technology here in the Philippines, in electric cooperative areas in the countryside, is a welcome development. I hope this pushes through in a larger scale here as ECs increasingly shift their energy mix from traditional energy sources to more sustainable modes of generation to supply their electricity-for-distribution requirements,” Masongsong said.