ECCP to pick 20 companies for energy efficiency plan

MANILA, Philippines - The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) will name the first 20 companies that will receive assistance in energy efficiency.

A survey of the International Finance Corp. (IFC) on 52 buildings in Makati showed that P189 million can be saved annually if energy efficient programs will be implemented.

ECCP president Hubert d’Aboville said the group is currently holding a thrice-a-month roundtable discussion with companies that want to take part in their Energy Smart Program that was launched during the second half of the year.

The first of the series of roundtable discussions was participated by Ayala Foundation, Banco de Oro, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Carepak, CEMEX Philippines, Lufthansa Technik, Merck, Phoenix Publishing, and Shangri-La Properties.   

“We expect top officials from 50 companies to participate in succeeding roundtables. They will be getting an overview of the Energy Smart Program from us along with our core partners,” d’Aboville said.

He added that by January, they will be naming the 20 companies that will be receiving a free “walk-through” audit of their operations and how they could become more energy efficient.

The next two roundtable discussions will be focusing on companies from the property and business process outsourcing industries.

The “walk through” is being undertaken together with the International Finance Corp. (IFC) which is supporting the Energy Smart program for the next three years. An undisclosed external funding will also be provided by IFC through its partner banks in the country.

The banks will providing collateral-free loans to the companies and appraise loan applications based on their viability.  

Aside from the IFC involvement, the progress and milestones achieved by the 20 companies will also be reviewed by a monitoring team from the program.

“We are thankful to the IFC for taking part in the Energy Smart Program. Private initiatives are very much important in ensuring the success of our energy efficiency campaign. We are now looking for the government to provide incentives to companies that want to undertake an energy efficient activity,” d’Aboville said.

Aside from the roundtable discussions, the ECCP will be embarking on a roadshow that will go to key cities in the country to promote its Energy Smart Program.

The ECCP has earlier established a helpdesk for companies that want to take part in the program.