DoE to allow 100% foreign ownership of RE projectsThe Department of Energy (DoE) [link] is working to make amendments to the renewable energy law to allow 100% foregn ownership of renewable energy companies, after a Department of Justice (DoJ) opinion stated that renewable energy (from solar, wind, tide, hydro) is not within the definition of the term “natural resources”, and that power sources that rely on “kinetic energy” are not thought to be contemplated to exist within the meaning of the phrase “all forces of potential energy”. The DoJ said that the constitutional prohibition against foreign ownership only covers things that are “susceptible to appropriation”, and energy sources that use the natural elements fail the DoJ’s test for things that can be appropriated (taken). If this change is made, the number of potential buyers for permitted projects goes global in scale. No longer will companies like Solar Philippines [SPNEC 1.11 4.31%] be constrained to selling permitted projects to the “usual suspects”, like ACEN [ACEN 5.52 1.43%] or Aboitiz Power [AP 30.30 1.62%]. Their projects could now be bundled and sold to foreign interests.

Source: Philippine Star October 04, 2022 01:37 UTC