Japan energy firm commits stable supply of LNG to Philippines

TOKYO — Japan’s largest power producer has committed to the Philippine government a stable supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to support the country’s economic growth.

In a statement, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said Philippine government officials and private sector executives had a meeting with executives of Japan’s Energy for a New Era (JERA) Co. Inc. led by its president Satoshi Onoda on the second day of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s official visit here.

During the meeting, Onoda told Marcos JERA has been working with the Aboitiz Group to support the growing Philippine economy.

Aboitiz Group president and CEO Sabin Aboitiz was also present in the meeting with JERA.

"In order to support the Philippines... which the economy is growing at a rapid pace, in order to secure a stable supply, we are working with Aboitiz and Sabin-san’s team on many fronts," said Onoda.

"And I may have mentioned this back in June as well, however, we are procuring more than 30 million tons of LNG per year. Therefore, we will be able to contribute to the Philippines in the supply of LNG as transition fuel," added Onoda.

JERA is the largest power generation company in Japan producing about 30% of the country’s electricity.

Onoda said that JERA and the Aboitiz Group have been training their engineers for developing technologies that would be beneficial to both parties.

"And as I have mentioned before, we will be working on co-firing ammonia technology as well. Therefore we would like to be able to provide this technology as well in a timely manner. We would like to utilize the various technologies in order to contribute to the economic growth as well as decarbonization in the Philippines," said the JERA executive.

For his part, Marcos said it is imperative to be able to explore such options and be prepared for future developments, especially with the issue of clean renewable energy sources.

"I do not need to illustrate or to explain the critical situation around the world when it comes to fuel, fuel supply, supply chain problems. All of these are requiring a great deal of thought for the planning for the Philippine side so as to be able to ensure that our forecasted -- and aspirations for development are well supported by an adequate power supply," Marcos said.

"And we, like most countries, are very much in the middle of the process of moving from the traditional to the renewables. Now the traditional renewables we all know... solar, wind. Now, there is hydroelectric, now there are some other new technologies coming in," added Marcos.

The President noted that the Philippines needs the development of new fuels to adequately support the country's power supply requirement.

"I suppose now they really have been discussing the interim – what we are doing in the interim until renewables can take the whole – can be able to provide rather the entire demand of the Philippines and beyond," said Marcos.

The Philippine leader also hoped that the collaboration between JERA and the Aboitiz power firms would result in the transfer of technology that the Philippine government can actively participate in.

"So the most important part as Mr. Aboitiz has pointed out is... of course the investment is important, but the transfer of technology is also extremely important and that will give the Philippines a self-sufficiency, which we have been missing," the President said, noting the transition from using ammonia to green hydrogen.

Also present in the meeting were PCO Secretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil, Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Secretary Antonio Ernesto Lagdameo Jr., Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Felix William Fuentabella, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.

According to its website, JERA is continuously seeking to actively develop integrated gas-to-power projects that cover fuel procurement through power generation, as well as large-scale renewable energy projects to meet the needs of different countries and regions. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News