‘PH to become key player in carbon-credit trade’
06/19/2011
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will be a key player in the growing carbon-credit market because its rains, topography and its geothermal resources are suited for producing renewable energy, an Australian carbon services company said.
The carbon credit market was born out of the European Union’s limits on carbon emissions. Any company that exceeds the limits has to buy credits from renewable energy companies and companies that reduce carbon emissions, such as landfills designed for that.
These companies earn these credits when they are registered under the United Nations Framework for Climate Change (UNFCC). While limits have not yet been set, some Japanese companies already buy carbon credits voluntarily.
More than 3,000 projects are registered, 32 of which are in the Philippines. The largest is the Ambuklao, Benguet hydro plant controlled by Aboitiz Power at 160,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.
First Farmers Holdings Corp.’s bagasse cogeneration plant (120,000) in Negros Oriental and the biogas emission reduction project at Quezon City’s waste disposal facility (116,000) are next. The windpower plant at Bangui Ilocos Norte has 57,000, on the other hand.
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| Bangui Windmills, Ilocos Norte |
“The key resource is rainfall,” Andrew Jauncey, financial controller of Perenia Carbon Pty, said in an interview in Sydney. “You need an appropriate amount of rain to be able to capture and harness and turn into hydroelectric generation capacity. The Philippines is excellently positioned on that front.”
“The topography of the Philippines: it’s not flat, which is a problem we often suffer from in Australia: we don’t have the topography to support a lot of hydro. And on the geothermal front, there’s enough capacity within the country because of where it’s situated geographically to support capturing that heat from the earth to generate electricity.”
About 30 pct of Philippine electricity comes from hydro and geothermal sources, according to Department of Energy. Another 30 pct comes from coal, about 18 pct from oil and 20 pct from natural gas.
(See DOE Power Statistics)
Perenia, which helps companies get registered, said it recently got its first Philippine contract for Energy Development Corp.’s 150 megawatt Bacon-Manito hydro power plant in Albay and Sorsogon.
EDC bought the mothballed plant from the government last year and plans to revive it. First Gen officials said Perenia is assessing the project.
Perenia is also in talks for two more Philippine projects, one in hydro and one in solar. Jauncey said declined to divulge more details.
“The Philippines will become a major player in this market,” Jauncey said. “We haven’t seen a lot of investment into the Philippines on the back of carbon but we’re going to see that in couple of years with the government looking to incentivize the people who build these projects. Once projects are built, we can play our part in getting these projects registered so that project owners and the employees and everyone can benefit from the carbon flow to the Philippines.”
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