DOE presents EO streamlining energy projects processing

• Source: http://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1009945
• Friday, July 6, 2018

By Apipa P. Bagumbaran

CAGAYAN DE ORO (PIA)--The Department of Energy (DOE) presented the salient features of Executive Order (EO) No. 30 which aims to expedite processing of permits and licenses relative to energy projects.

Patrick T. Aquino, director of the DOE Energy Policy and Planning Bureau, said during the 115th Regional Development Council-X Full Council Meeting that the EO was signed by the President last year creating the Energy Investment Coordinating Council (EICC) to streamline the regulatory procedures affecting energy projects of national significance (EPNS).

EPNS are major energy projects which are aligned with the Philippine Energy Plan and possess any of the following attributes: significant capital investment of at least Php3.5 billion, significant contribution to the country’s economic development, significant consequential economic impact, significant potential contribution to the country’s balance of payments, significant impact on the environment, complex technical processes and engineering designs, and/or significant infrastructure requirements, DOE said.

Under the EO, the processing of EPNS shall be within a maximum period of 30 days.

“What we are asking for is action. It doesn’t necessarily mean a favorable action,” he further said.

Aquino said there is a portion in the EO which provides that when government agencies don’t get to act, the DOE gets to issue the permit under the concept of the presumption of a deemed approval.

As of June 28, there are 46 applications for certificate of EPNS.

These include 12 coal projects, 11 oil and gas, 22 renewables and 1 transmission project.

The Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) got the first CEPNS after the effectivity of the implementing rules and regulations.

CEPNS applications for Northern Mindanao include two coal projects and three hydro projects.

These are the Ozamiz coal project, Minergy coal-fired project, Pulangi IV hydro project, Katipunan hydro project, and the Sawaga hydro project. (APB/PIA-10)