DOE sets retrofitting program

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) is partnering with various government agencies for a Luzon-wide retrofitting program for government buildings.

In a statement, the DOE said it has signed a memorandum of agreement with 56 agencies from the National Capital Region, Southern Tagalog and Bicol.

The agreement is “part of the government retrofitting initiative under the Philippine Energy Efficiency Project (PEEP) which aims to save the government from electricity expenditure and carbon emissions,” the DOE said.

The PEEP targets lowering power demand in the country.

The retrofitting arose from the need to change the agencies’ behavior on consumption, the DOE said.

“Electricity is a commodity and its price is subject to availability of supply and consumer demand,” said DOE undersecretary Loreta Ayson.

“We should always be mindful that energy wastage effectively reduces total available energy supply, artificially lifts demand and promotes high prices,” Ayson added.

The DOE has expanded the retrofitting component of the PEEP to include 100 government buildings from Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

Energy savings are expected to reach six gigawatt-hours (gwh) worth P60 million while avoiding the release of 3,246 metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere annually.

As of February, the DOE has helped in the retrofitting of 35 government buildings that targets reducing energy consumption by 1.37 gwh worth P13.7 million annually.

The Government Building Retrofit project is part of the efficient lighting initiative component of PEEP.

It includes national residential lighting; public lighting retrofitting of streetlights, traffic lights and solar-powered lights in off-grid areas; and the carrying out of energy efficiency testing and lamp waste management, the DOE said.