Wanted: More energy investors

AUGSBURG — Barely 48 hours after we arrived here in the city of Munich last Friday, we would learn later that Germany is placed as a hot spot for possible terrorist attack. This came after the US State Department issued a travel advisory to their American nationals to take extra precaution from going to Europe.

Americans are reminded of the potential for terrorists “to attack public transportation and other tourist infrastructure.” There was much vagueness in the US travel advisory alert issued on Sunday. It specified no particular country or city in Europe except telling Americans to “be aware of their surroundings” and to “adopt appropriate measures to protect themselves while traveling” in Europe.

“Current information suggests that al-Qaeda and affiliate organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks,” the advisory stated. The US travel advisory, though, stopped short of advising Americans to stay away from Europe, a continent that encompasses 40 countries.

German nationals were reportedly linked in the newest terror plot. This came out after a US missile killed several German militants in a house in North Waziristan in northwest Pakistan. The region had been named as the source of terror plot allegedly being hatched against Europe.

But a German top security official, Thomas de Maiziere, played down claims that al-Qaeda was planning attacks on some Berlin landmarks. “There is no concrete indication of impending attacks,” Maiziere was quoted as saying by the International Herald Tribune. He cited that security has been stepped up in Berlin over several months ago now, particularly at ministries, political party headquarters and at the airport and main railroad stations long before this supposed European terror plot was uncovered.

Maiziere said security forces remained vigilant because of what he described as “high abstract of danger” but did not elaborate what he meant. US security officials believe a terrorist cell of Germans and Britons was at the heart of the Europe terror plot.

The German people are no stranger to terror attacks. They experienced one of the world’s most heinous terrorism acts in 1972 when Munich hosted the Summer Olympics. Rabid extremists broke through the tightly guarded Olympic Village and massacred Israeli athletes. So the German people do not take terror threats lightly.

From the Olympic city of Munich, we proceeded here in Augsburg, a city in the southwest of the State of Bavaria in Germany. Augsburg is the third largest city in Bavaria. It is an urban district and home of the popular children’s toy Legoland.

After Munich, Augsburg is considered the high-tech center for information and communication in Bavaria and takes advantage of its lower operating costs, yet close proximity to Munich and potential customers. So it was a relief for me that we have WiFi access free of use in most hotel rooms here in Germany unlike in other European cities.  

For the 11th consecutive year, Augsburg is again hosting the International Trade Fair for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficient Building and Renovation, or Renexpo. For the 11th Renexpo, it has a theme of International Trade Fair for Regenerative Energy and Energy Efficient Building and Renovation. It formally opened yesterday and will run until Oct. 10, Sunday here in the Augsburg Trade Fair and Convention Center.

It is one of the sector’s most important trade fairs and is the number one meeting point for the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries due to its extraordinarily broad range of topics. More than 300 international exhibitors from all over the world are participating in Renexpo this year. The bulk of participants, I gathered here, are mostly German companies engaged in solar and wind power industries. These environment-friendly sources of electricity are fully energizing the whole of Germany.

The “energy award powered by Joule & RENEXPO” will be granted again this year to individuals who have distinguished themselves through their contribution to renewable energies and energy efficiency in building and renovation. Nominees are mostly involved in the areas of wood energy, heat pumps, energy efficient construction and renovation, solar technology as well as cogeneration technology up to 200 kilowatts.

Our road trip from Munich going here to Augsburg was not only a scenic trip but it also enabled us to see many building establishments and German houses that are mostly installed with solar panels on their roofs. And in certain areas we passed, we saw at least one windmill enough to provide electricity requirements for one village. 

As I gathered here, the Philippines is fast gaining recognition as a major source of solar wafer that is an important component for a solar panel. And the biggest producer of that component is First Philec Solar Corp. (FPSC). This is a joint venture between First Philippine Electric Corp. (First Philec) of the Lopez Group of Companies, with 80 percent and Sunpower Philippines Manufacturing (SPML) (San Jose, USA) with 20 percent. It is the first and only large-scale silicon wafer slicing company in the Philippines.

The FPSC is one of the units of the Lopez Group of Companies that includes the country’s biggest producer of clean and renewable energy First Gen. It has under its wings the Energy Development Corp. which is the world’s second biggest producer of geothermal energy, next to the US.

While the Lopez Group of Companies have lost control of the Manila Electric Co., they have gone into power generation and bought the Pantabangan Hydroelectric Power Plant and would soon invest more into the wind power in Bangui, Ilocos Norte.

Even as we are now having the La Niña phenomenon, or long rainy period in the Philippines, this does not lessen our country’s vast solar energy potential as a major power source. We need, however, more private sector investments to explore wider use of more renewable sources of energy abundant in the Philippines.