Japanese energy firm backs Marcos’ renewable energy policy

TOKYO, Japan — A Japanese power generation company has assured President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. of a stable supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to support the economic growth of the country.

JERA Co. Inc. president Onoda Satoshi said this during a meeting on Thursday, Feb. 9.

According to Onoda, his company has been working with the Aboitiz group, represented by Sabin Aboitiz, to support the growing Philippine economy.

“In order to support the Philippines… which the economy is growing at a rapid pace, in order to secure a stable supply, we are working with Aboitiz and Sabin-san’s team on many fronts,” he said.

“I may have mentioned this back in June as well, however, we are procuring more than 30 million tons of LNG per year. Therefore, we will be able to contribute to the Philippines in the supply of LNG as a transition fuel,” he added.

The power firm executive also noted that JERA, the largest power generation company in Japan, and the Aboitiz group have been training their engineers to develop technologies that would benefit both parties.

“And as I have mentioned, we will also be working on co-firing ammonia technology. Therefore we would like to be able to provide this technology as well in a timely manner,” Onoda said.

“We would like to utilize the various technologies to contribute to the economic growth and decarbonization in the Philippines,” he added.

For his part, President Marcos said it is imperative to be able to explore such options and be prepared for future developments, especially with the issue of clean renewable energy sources.

“I do not need to illustrate or explain the critical situation around the world regarding fuel, fuel supply, and supply chain problems. All of these are requiring a great deal of thought for the planning for the Philippine side so as to be able to ensure that our forecasted — and aspirations for development are well supported by an adequate power supply,” he said.

“And we, like most countries, are very much in the middle of the process of moving from the traditional to the renewables. Now there are some other new technologies coming in,” the President added.

President Marcos said the Philippines needs the development of new fuels to support the country’s power supply requirement adequately.

“I suppose now they really have been discussing the interim – what we are doing in the interim until renewables can take the whole – can be able to provide rather the entire demand of the Philippines and beyond,” he said.

Marcos also hoped that the collaboration between JERA and the Aboitiz power firms would result in the transfer of technology that the Philippine government can actively participate in.