AboitizPower exec rues lack of R&D funding for decarbonization

MANILA, Philippines — The country needs funding and support to conduct its own research and development to explore future decarbonization technologies, an Aboitiz Power Corp. official said.

“We look to developed markets – Japan and others – to pioneer the technologies of the future that we’re going to need,” AboitizPower chief corporate services officer Carlos Aboitiz said.

Aboitiz made this point during the recent Asia Clean Energy Forum 2024, hosted by Asian Development Bank.

He said the Philippines can take the risk of deploying commercially feasible and viable technologies but rely on partners to “de-risk the research and development.”

“We need to define the problem better because if we define the problem poorly, we risk wasting a lot of capital and energy and not achieving the progress that we aspire to achieve,” Aboitiz said.

More pragmatic conversations on net-zero and clean energy transitions are also needed to provide reliable and cost-competitive solutions to end-users, he said.

“Often, we hear pronouncements that renewables are cheaper than their fossil fuel counterparts. When paired with the understanding that they are also cleaner, this results in a ‘zero-downside’ conclusion that we should immediately shift from fossil fuels to renewables.”

According to Aboitiz, it is also difficult to balance energy security, affordability and decarbonization priorities amid the lack of economic alternatives to fossil fuels and the growing demand for power.

“While we act concurrently, let’s strive to, through candid and fact-based conversation, figure out what the real problem is and understand the constraints of the solutions we have today,” he added.

AboitizPower, the holding firm of the Aboitiz Group’s investments in power generation, distribution and retail electricity services, owns distribution utilities that operate in high-growth areas nationwide.

In line with the country’s goal of having a 35 percent renewable energy (RE) share in the generation mix by 2030, the firm continues to invest in RE assets, en route to hitting 4,600 megawatts (MW).

AboitizPower’s diverse portfolio includes hydroelectric, geothermal, solar and thermal facilities. It also has close to 1,000 MW of disclosed projects from various indigenous energy sources.