Philippine policy potholes frustrate analysts

摘要

Following the steps of its neighbouring countries, the Philippines is setting its eyes on shifting to renewable energy sources and slowly shedding its dependence on coal, oil, and gas for its energy needs. The country's market, in theory, is a bright spot for investors along with Thailand and Indonesia, but its attractiveness is marred by policy loopholes that counter its big potential. Recent project announcements attest to the Philippines' investment appeal including the 92.5MW module shipment from Chinese manufacturer, JA Solar Holdings. This represents JA Solar's first entry into the Philippine renewables market and is representative of analysts' views that Chinese solar manufacturers will increasingly turn to rapidly expanding Asian renewables markets in order to offset some of the overcapacity in their domestic market. Renewables developer, Conergy, also announced in October 2015 that it is developing over 200MW of solar capacity across the Philippines.