Greater flexibility, diversity in Philippine energy

AboitizPower vice president for corporate affairs

MANILA, Philippines — Amidst the need for more electricity supply and heightened demand due to the summer heat, public and private sector representatives from the energy sector gathered at the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines’ (EJAP) energy forum, aptly titled “Beyond the Crisis: Defining a New Era of Philippine Energy.”

Thank you, EJAP – the country’s premier organization of journalists covering the economy and business activities in the country – for organizing the very timely event and inviting policymakers, regulators, energy companies and other stakeholders to share their perspectives and plans on the ongoing issues gripping the Philippine power grid. I also wish to acknowledge The STAR Business Editor Iris Gonzales for moderating the panel discussion.

Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chairperson and CEO Francis Saturnino Juan briefly and clearly identified the underlying factor that led to six manual load droppings (or as he called it, the “polite name for rotating brownouts”) from May 13 to18, 2026. In a recorded statement, he explained that the cushion between supply and demand between 3 and 4 p.m. began to shrink due to the decrease in solar power generation while consumption remained elevated.

This is by no means an indictment against solar power generation, which we already know starts to taper off late afternoon leading up to the evening. Rather, it is a lesson on having and sustaining a flexible and diversified power mix; one that acknowledges the limitations of one source so that it can be backed up by another technology that is ready, available and dispatchable in a matter of minutes.

As it was put by ERC’s Juan: “We are not simply facing an afternoon and early evening shortage. We are facing a flexibility shortage in the hours after the sun goes down.”

With that said, the “Beyond the Crisis” and the “New Era of Philippine Energy” should be defined by greater flexibility and diversification – particularly in supply chains, sources of energy and technologies – so that the country is better shielded and prepared for today’s and tomorrow’s internal and external disruptions that threaten energy security, national economy and overall potential. In other words, we need more energy capacity, reserves and storage moving forward.

As the Department of Energy added, through Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella, “Moving beyond crisis means building an energy system that is resilient, inclusive and forward-looking. It means expanding domestic energy sources, empowering communities, optimizing energy use, strengthening infrastructure and enabling participation at all levels of society.”

The year 2026 has already been big for AboitizPower in terms of flexibility and diversification as it acquired the 789-megawatt Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan Hydroelectric Power Plant Complex in Laguna via a consortium led by Aboitiz Renewables last February. CBK’s Kalayaan pumped-storage units, in particular, have the ability to store energy and rapidly dispatch power, helping manage peaks in demand and supporting system stability by providing essential backup power.

At the same time, AboitizPower has also allocated P62-billion in capital expenditures for 2026 – a large portion of which is for renewable energy capacities and battery energy storage systems (BESS). A BESS uses a set of batteries to store surplus electrical energy and releases it when needed to augment supply or improve the quality of the electricity in the system.

Under GEA-4, the company committed 639.5 megawatts worth of projects, which include battery and solar projects. Furthermore, outside of GEA, both AboitizPower’s Renewable and Thermal business groups are also currently developing more BESS capacities to add to its existing ones.

These efforts are aligned with AboitizPower’s push into domestically-sourced renewable energy, while still contributing to the energy reliability and security of the Philippines.

I once again extend appreciation and congratulations to EJAP for providing an avenue for nuanced and candid conversations on the energy sector. With its many challenges, it is to the sector’s benefit that it is fully understood by media practitioners, but, most importantly, by the general public it both serves.