IRENA helps JV secure funding for solar project

By Jordeene Sheex Lagare – June 8, 2018
from The Manila Times

THE International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is trying help a local joint venture secure funding for a 1.3-megawatt (MW) solar project in Balayan City, Batangas.

Surya Source Energy Inc., a joint venture between Tamoin Industrial Services Corp. (Tisco) and SunSource Energy, has “sought IRENA’s assistance for financial closure,” Arjun Guha, IRENA Programme Officer for Renewable Energy Project Development and Finance, told reporters on Thursday.

Surya Source currently has two projects in its portfolio: a 100-MW solar power plant in Subic and a 1.8-MW rooftop solar power plant at the Robinsons Mall in Novaliches.

“We are trying to help them… we are trying to connect them [to several financial institutions]to secure financing sources,” Guha said during a press briefing, referring to Surya’s project situated in a commercial establishment in Batangas.

The global RE energy agency is doing this through its virtual marketplace, which had its soft launch during the 13th Asia Clean Energy Forum (ACEF) 2018 being held at the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) headquarters in Mandaluyong City this week.

Called Sustainable Energy Marketplace, the platform seeks to bolster both public and private investments in RE and energy efficiency in developing and emerging nations to meet global climate and sustainable development goals.

“[D]uring the soft launch of the marketplace, we actually have one project in the Philippines to procure financing support,” Guha said.

IRENA’s online platform, launched during the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP21, is akin to eBay which connects project owners, investors, financiers, host governments, service providers, and technology providers to complete projects. There are 78 financial institutions registered on the platform.

Following its success in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, the IRENA marketplace is now expanding its scope to other regions including Asia, Southeast Europe, and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Guha said he believes the Philippines is a “very ripe market for renewables” partly due to its cost saving potential.
“The demand is there at the community, at the public level. The demand for renewables is there because of the job creation potential, the cost saving potential, and the low carbon,” he added.

IRENA said in a report earlier this year that RE is pivotal to driving growth and expanding energy access in Southeast Asia. It said Southeast Asian countries are poised to meet their aspirational goal of 23 percent RE share in the region’s primary energy mix by 2025.

It also said that in the Philippines, while coal remains the leading source of energy in the country, renewables are coming in second.

In its 2017 Power Statistics report, the Department of Energy said the Philippines had an installed generating capacity from coal of 8,049 MW last year, 8.5 percent higher than that of the previous year’s 7,419 MW, while installed capacity from renewable rose 1.7 percent to 7,079 MW from 6,958 MW in 2016.