PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. met with top officials of the Department of Energy (DoE) and other agencies related to the sector to tackle ways the government can ensure the country’s energy security. Contributed Photo
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. met with top officials of the Department of Energy (DoE) and other agencies related to the sector to tackle ways the government can ensure the country’s energy security, Malacañang said Wednesday.
They tackled “immediate and medium-term plans for energy development and power supply in the country,” the Office of the President (OP) said in a Facebook post.
Marcos has pushed the use of renewable energy that will also step up the country’s efforts in combating climate change.
The DoE informed the President that it is preparing for the second green energy auction by June 2023 after the success of the first one held last June.
The Green Energy Auction Program was undertaken to entice investments in new or additional renewable energy capacities for the utilization of more sustainable supply sources to meet the country’s electricity demands and in the long run bring down the cost of power.
Another option the government is looking at is the revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) as a new source of power.
If it becomes operational, the BNPP is projected to produce 621 megawatts (MW) of electricity.
The Office of the Press Secretary (OPS), in a separate post, shared snippets of the meeting on its official social media accounts, noting that strengthening the energy sector is one the present administration’s priorities.
“This is expected to be among the issues the President will discuss in the coming Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Cambodia,” the OPS said.
Marcos will participate in the 40th and 41st Asean Summits and Related Summits in Phnom Penh from November 10 to 13.
While there, the Chief Executive, apart from securing cooperations on energy, is also expected to discuss the Philippines’ post-pandemic economic recovery efforts which include food security, digital transformation, digital economy, and climate change.
He will also hold bilateral talks with his counterparts, among them Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
