Philippines makes significant leap in renewable energy investment, BNEF report reveals

Philippines' green energy investment ranking rises. Image Shows ACEN's Wind Turbines. (Photo: ACEN)

The Philippines ranked among the top two most attractive emerging markets in Bloomberg New Energy Finance's (BNEF) latest climate survey. This marks the first time the Philippines has reached this position, primarily driven by incentives from its diversified energy policies. In contrast, Taiwan's ranking plummeted to 22nd place, marking its lowest performance in four years.

Philippines tops Asia-Pacific renewable energy policies

In BNEF’s annual climate investment survey, the Philippines soared to second place, leaving India to maintain its top spot, while China slipped to third. BNEF's Climatescope research report, which assesses global renewable energy markets, evaluates three main categories: fundamentals, experience, and opportunities. With a score of 2.65, the Philippines ranked second both in emerging markets and the Asia-Pacific region.

The report highlights that, among the nine indicators tracked, the Philippines is the only country in the Asia-Pacific region with policies in place for each one, such as renewable energy auctions, net metering, tax incentives, and the setting of clean energy goals. These measures have effectively fostered renewable energy capacity expansion. Over the past four years, the Philippines' ranking has surged from 20th to 2nd.

The report shows that the Philippines ranks second in the renewable energy market among emerging markets and the Asia-Pacific region. (Image: BNEF)

In 2023, the Philippines saw a clean energy investment of approximately $1.98 billion, a growth of over 87% from the previous year. While foreign investments remain limited, the government’s relaxation of foreign ownership restrictions has allowed foreign entities to hold 100% ownership in the exploration, development, and utilization of wind, solar, and hydropower projects. This is expected to continue driving market growth.

Taiwan's ranking drops sharply

Although the Philippines still relies predominantly on coal-fired power generation, the government has set ambitious renewable energy goals, aiming for 35% renewable energy share in power generation by 2030 and 50% by 2050. Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla emphasized that the Philippines' energy transition is ongoing, with demand expected to grow at a rate of 5.3% annually until 2028.

BNEF states that the development of emerging markets has become a key focus of the report, especially in terms of energy transition and attracting external investors. Apart from the Asia-Pacific region, the African market is also gaining attention. Solar energy investments, which account for two-thirds of the total renewable energy investments in emerging markets, have reached a historic high.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s ranking in the emerging market category dropped to 22nd place, falling 10 spots compared to the previous assessment and marking its fourth consecutive decline. In the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwan ranked 5th. Taiwan scored 2.28 points, with similar fundamentals to the Philippines, but a higher score in experience. However, Taiwan lags far behind the Philippines in terms of opportunities.

According to the report, Taiwan only ranks in the top 10 for fundamentals among emerging markets, based on three key criteria: fundamentals, experience, and opportunities. (Image: BNEF)

Source: Manila Times, Climatescope