State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) will be ramping up support to the national government’s energy programs and will focus on projects that promote affordable, reliable, and sustainable solutions to address the country’s energy requirements.
This is what DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Michael O. de Jesus said he’d like to commit after reporting that the bank has already approved nearly P77-billion in loans under its Financing Utilities for Sustainable Energy Development (FUSED) Program, the bank’s flagship credit program that seeks to increase access to electricity services in the countryside.
“As of December 2022, DBP has approved 92 accounts under the FUSED Program, 27 of which are renewable energy projects,” de Jesus said in a press release.
“We also expect that by 2030, we have funded P58-billion of the estimated investment requirements for power generation and distribution indicated in the Philippine Energy Plan 2012-2030,” he added.
Providing credit support to strategic sectors of the economy
De Jesus explained that under the facility, the DBP has granted a P1.8-billion funding support for the development of a 13.2 MegaWatt (MW) wind farm project of PetroWind Energy, Inc. (PWEI), which will be constructed south of the operating 36 MW Nabas-1 Wind Power Project located on the island of Panay in Aklan Province.
He noted that the wind farm project has recently won the Visayas wind allocation in the first-ever Green Energy Auction Program (GEAP) conducted by the Department of Energy (DOE).
“The project is a testament to DBP’s commitment towards environmental protection and sustainable development and is aligned with the national government’s thrust of promoting energy independence through the development, utilization, and commercialization of renewable energy resources,” he said.
For her part, DBP Senior Vice President and Officer-in-Charge of the Development and Resiliency Sector Carolyn I. Olfindo said that the project is expected to augment the existing power supply in the Visayas Grid by contributing 13.2 MW of plant capacity.
She said the project is expected to boost local employment and generate additional jobs for at least 400 people during the project’s construction period.
“Our long-standing partnership with PWEI reaffirms our intense drive in promoting the nation’s agenda of inclusive growth and economic development as well as in bolstering investments in the renewable energy sector,” Olfindo said.
The DBP is currently the eighth-largest bank in the country in terms of assets. It provides credit support to four strategic sectors of the economy – infrastructure and logistics; micro, small, and medium enterprises; environment; social services and community development.
As the country’s pre-eminent development financial institution, DBP has taken upon itself the strategic task of influencing and accelerating sustainable economic growth, through the provision of resources, for the continued well-being of the Filipino people.