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Berde Renewables handout photo

 

By Raine Musñgi, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The next corporate energy race has already begun, and it isn’t about solar panels.

Philippine businesses have spent the past decade installing rooftop solar to rein in some of Southeast Asia’s highest electricity costs. Now, industry leaders say the next competitive advantage is no longer generating electricity.

It’s storing it.

As battery prices continue to fall and technology rapidly improves, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are emerging as the next frontier in corporate energy strategy.

Instead of serving only as emergency backup power, batteries are increasingly helping companies cut electricity costs, reduce exposure to volatile power prices and maximize the value of renewable energy.

 

The shift comes as the Philippines works toward raising renewable energy’s share in the power generation mix to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040, targets set by the Department of Energy that will require significantly more energy storage to support the growing use of solar and wind power.

Globally, the International Energy Agency identifies battery storage as one of the fastest-growing clean energy technologies as costs continue to decline and renewable generation expands.

“The biggest challenge for renewables over the past decade has actually been its intermittency,” Berde Renewables Group Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder Morris Zhou said on ANC’s Business Outlook.

“When the sun shines, that’s great. When there’s a cloud, when there’s a typhoon, when it’s cloudy for a few days, you don’t get the power.

“What’s actually been happening over the last five years is that battery energy technology has had a major breakthrough, not only in terms of efficiency but also in cost. The energy storage piece was kind of the last piece for the renewable energy transition.”