MANILA -- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s meeting on Thursday with Chinese chief executive officers (CEOs) on renewable energy (RE) yielded USD 13.76 billion in investment pledges for the Philippine energy sector.

During the roundtable with Chinese businesses on RE, President Marcos said there are investment opportunities for them in the Philippines as energy demand continues to grow and keep pace with the country’s projected strong economic growth.

“We look forward to more Chinese investments in renewable energy pursuits such as in solar and wind, as well as in related sectors including battery energy storage systems and off-grid power supply systems,” he said.

They may also find potential in the manufacturing of renewable energy project parts and equipment, he said, hoping they can help the Philippines develop expertise in power generation equipment manufacturing.

At the same time, the Philippines also welcomes investors in photovoltaic, onshore and offshore wind turbine generation, waste-to-energy, and other renewable energy projects, the President said.

Other areas include investments in the more specialized areas of hydrogen production and storage, energy storage systems, and off-grid energy systems, he noted.

Also during the roundtable meeting, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla promised to address issues confronting the Philippine energy sector, assuring investors that the government is working on them.

One of which is the connection to the grid, which the energy department is currently working on, to ensure that the connection to the grid will be there, especially for offshore wind.

And with the State Grid of China’s 40 percent interest in the national grid company of the Philippines, Lotilla said it is important for the Philippines to work together with China.

“So we look forward to continued cooperation on your part and we would like to assure you that working together with our Department of Trade and Industry, we will provide you with full support in order to hasten the cooperation between the Philippines and China,” he said.

Lotilla also echoed during the meeting the Marcos administrations’ objectives of attaining 35 percent renewable energy by 2030, and 50 percent by 2040.

To meet those targets, he said an additional 52,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2040 will be needed.

“And of the 52,000 [energy demand], 27,000 megawatts will be from solar and another 16,000 megawatts from wind,” he said.

“But this does not take into account right now the total offshore wind potential of 178 gigawatts or 178,000 megawatts for the Philippines as a whole,” he added. (OPS)