Certified investments in green belts have reached the level of P4.3T

GREEN lane certified investments reached ₹4.3 trillion last month, a senior Board of Investment (BoI) official said on Friday.

BoI Director Ernesto de los Reyes Jr. said that at the forum organized by the Association of Economic Journalists of the Philippines, the number of certified projects reached 158, of which 128 were renewable energy projects worth P3.91 trillion.

“Since renewable energy projects have a long development period, most of the green belt projects we have certified are still in the pre-development stage,” he noted.

“But as of September 2024, two projects are already starting commercial operations.”

According to a previous BoI report, this includes Sinag Power Inc.’s Aboitiz Power PV unit, which has commenced commercial operations at the Cayanga-Bugallon Solar Power Project with a peak capacity of 94.717 MW in Pangasinan, and Nexif Ratch Energy Investments Pte. Ltd. with a capacity of 74.13 MW Calabanga in Camarines Sur.

As for the remaining certified projects, six were related to digital infrastructure, 22 were related to food security and two were related to manufacturing.

The six digital infrastructure projects have a total cost of P346.33 billion, food security projects involve investments worth P13.50 billion, and manufacturing ventures will require a total of P29.61 billion.

In addition to awarding green belt certificates to large renewable energy projects, the BoI said it has also helped develop key policies to facilitate investment in the sector.

These include guidelines for environmental compliance certificates for floating solar and wind power projects and a legal framework for the use of irrigation facilities in hydropower projects

The Green Lane for Strategic Investments program, established by Executive Order No. 18 issued last February, aims to simplify and streamline the approval process for high-impact projects in the Philippines.