LGUS (RE)PRESENT: Representatives from the various LGUs of Iloilo and Palawan participate in the five-day (21-25 October) RE workshop organized by the DREAMS Project at the Novotel Hotel in Cubao, Quezon City.
The gathering aims to promote RE to LGUs, and train their representatives in adopting and implementing local legislations that would help ease the entry of RE investments in their areas.
TAGUIG CITY – As part of the efforts of the Department of Energy (DOE) to strengthen the national renewable energy (RE) landscape, the DOE-Renewable Energy Management Bureau (REMB), through the Development for Renewable Energy Applications Mainstreaming and Market Sustainability (DREAMS) Project, together with the representatives from the Local Government Units (LGUs) of Iloilo and Palawan, jointly conducted a workshop on RE development and utilization from 21 to 25 October 2019 at the Novotel Hotel in Cubao, Quezon City.
DOE Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said, “The success of any project, regardless of scale, depends on the extent and depth of the involvement of its target beneficiaries. Getting our LGUs on board is one way to ensure the continued growth of our RE sector.”
DREAMS is a five-year project (2017-2022) of the DOE, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, and the Global Environment Facility. The project seeks to promote and facilitate RE market commercialization by helping remove barriers to RE-based power generation investments, which would increase power supply options and bring down greenhouse gas emission levels from the country’s power sector.
The workshop, with the theme, “Nagbabalik Enerhiya: Kaalaman”, is a capacity-building activity, which seeks to equip LGU participants with the necessary training in the passage, adoption, and implementation of local legislation that would facilitate the entry of new RE investments within their respective areas.
National Renewable Energy Board Chairperson, Atty. Monalisa Dimalanta, emphasized the importance of engaging LGUs in the creation of vision and road maps for the transition towards RE in the context of climate change.
Afterwards, DOE-REMB Officer-in-Charge, Director Mylene C. Capongcol, led the discussions on Net Metering concerns. She likewise introduced the Green Energy Option Program as one of the recent strategies established by the DOE to empower electricity end-users in managing and choosing their electricity supply sources. This was followed by presentations of Bureau Division Chiefs on various RE technologies and how each one works.
Representatives from the DOE-Electric Power Industry Management Bureau also provided an overview of the Philippine power system and total electrification strategies.
Meanwhile, Engr. Luis S. Sabater of the LGU of Quezon City, presented a case study on the city-controlled disposal facility project, which seeks to reduce biogas emissions.
Over 50 participants from the Municipalities of Ajuy, Carles, and Concepcion in Iloilo, and the Municipalities of Aborlan, Balabac, Brooke’s Point, Cagayancillo, Culion, and San Vicente in Palawan attended the workshop.
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