ADFIAP, through its Senior Consultant, Mr. Victor C. Abainza, participated in the roundtable discussions on “Microgrids and Small-scale Renewable Energy Systems” organized by the Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technologies (CREST) and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES). The event, held on August 9, 2018 at the Discovery Suites in Ortigas Business District, Pasig City, Metro Manila, was attended by 40 participants from the renewable energy industry space, including technology providers, suppliers, financiers and civil society.

The roundtable was conceived in view of the continuing growth of the global renewable energy industry due to increasing citizen’s awareness on climate change, surging price of fossil fuels, and decreasing prices of solar, wind, and storage technologies.

In many countries, electricity produced through solar and wind has already passed grid parity. However, in the Philippines, the share of renewable energy (RE) in the energy mix remains very low. Access to financing is also one of the main barriers that prevent the growth of the RE sector despite the rapid technological innovations in the solar, wind and storage industry. Small and medium project developers have limited capacity to access financing to be able to scale-up their renewable energy programs. This lack of access to financing also prevents critical sectors such as the rural electric cooperatives, local government units, and communities from enjoying the benefits of these sustainable energy sources.

The event became a venue for (a) dialogue between the RE industry, electric cooperatives, financing institutions and civil society organizations and for discussions on areas of cooperation among these sectors; and (b) developing common strategies towards moving the RE sector forward by harnessing opportunities and identifying collaborative actions that addressed the gaps and other industry barriers especially in the area of accessing financing for small RE systems and technologies.

CREST and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung conducted the meeting in partnership with the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP), the Association of Isolated Electric Cooperatives (AIEC), the Philippine Solar and Storage Energy Alliance (PSSEA) and the Center for Power Issues and Initiatives (CPII).