Investors quietly divest in PH’s RE

The 'hotness' of the Philippines for renewable energy investments may be losing its sizzle.

- MYRNA M. VELASCO

Some foreign investors are now quietly slipping out the back door, leaving behind whispers of uncertainty, a trail of unanswered questions about what went wrong, and a half-empty plate of missed opportunities.

The grapevine is buzzing that one big-ticket foreign investor, now stealthily selling its stake in the floating solar space, was once paraded as a headline deal from President Marcos’ 2023 state visit to an ASEAN neighbor-country.

"They are already negotiating with the buyer, and the agreement is expected to be signed soon. The buyer-company is led by a former executive of a subsidiary of a giant power utility in the country," a source revealed.

One major European investor in the offshore wind sector, despite the massive-scale service contracts it cornered from the Department of Energy (DOE), is now actively hunting for buyers. Insiders say it's not just an internal organizational shake-up driving its exit, but mainly growing frustration over the Philippines’ unpredictable policy game.

In fact, even other RE players who were once eager to go all-in under the 100 percent foreign ownership policy for solar and wind are now backing down and unloading shares. They are troubled by grid integration concerns and the maze of red tape at local government permitting, which has turned the investment landscape into a bureaucratic obstacle course.