By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter
RENEWABLE ENERGY (RE) firms from the UK are looking to the Philippines as a potential investment destination, especially for offshore wind projects, the British Embassy in Manila said.
Lloyd Cameron, economic and climate counsellor at the embassy, said many investors see the Philippines as holding the potential for many such projects.
“Everyone’s looking at the Philippines, everyone’s taking notice of the Philippines now, and it’s just making sure that those opportunities are shared with the right people,” he told reporters last week.
He said apart from offshore wind, other industries being looked at are nuclear energy, particularly small modular reactors.
“Offshore wind, absolutely, because the UK is one of the world leaders in offshore wind, and that has led to the development of a really strong UK supply chain and really strong UK expertise that these companies and firms are looking to export,” he said.
“And then there are a lot of investment companies in the City of London who have the capital to invest in projects, so it’s them as well,” he said, referring to the British capital markets. “They’re generally sector agnostic; they’re just looking for RE opportunities.”
He said the Philippine government has signaled its intent to grow RE capacity and created a conducive investment climate.
“A government is in place that is sending a really strong signal to the market that it wants to grow renewable energy capacity, and that the Philippines is open for business and open for investment,” he added.
He noted reforms like the green-lane permit system, longer leases for investors, and right-of-way reform, among others.
“You see the Philippines ranking second in listings for emerging markets in RE,” he said.
“It’s a whole-of-government approach, and then it’s the passion and the ingenuity of Philippine businesses as well, who can be partners in that,” he added.
He said that if the UK becomes a top source of foreign direct investment (FDI), it will be driven by RE projects.
“The year to date, there haven’t been the same big projects agreed upon, but that’s normal. These big projects don’t come along every couple of months, so it may ebb and flow,” he said.
“It may not be this year, but I’m sure that there are investors looking at big projects here, if not this year, next year, or down the line,” he added.
Last year, the UK was among the top sources of FDI net inflows, accounting for 35% of the total, or $8.93 billion.