Sweden invites DOE, PE2 to EE event for industrial sector
MAKATI CITY, 5 December 2025 -The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance (PE2) were invited by the Embassy of Sweden and Business Sweden to share policy and market updates during the event, “Swedish Perspectives in Energy Efficiency,” which brought together Swedish technology leaders SKF Group and active PE2 member Atlas Copco with Philippine industry stakeholders. The initiative by Sweden was intended to accelerate the adoption of energy-efficient solutions across manufacturing, food & beverage, and power sectors.
Ambassador Anna Ferry highlighted Sweden’s role as a trusted partner: “Energy efficiency is critical for competitiveness and resilience. Sweden’s experience shows that industrial modernization and sustainability can go hand in hand. We are long-term partners with the Philippines in sharing this expertise.” She explained that the Philippines faces some of the highest electricity prices in Asia (~$0.18/kWh), making efficiency a top priority. The Swedish ambassador also stressed that the local industrial sectors—especially food & beverage and manufacturing—account for roughly 80% of industrial energy use, representing the biggest opportunity for savings. Business Sweden also reported that Swedish companies bring proven technologies, global best practices, and financing solutions to help bridge gaps and unlock sustainability gains. Their energy efficiency market study also shows that strategic interventions like aggregated procurement and investment-grade audits can transform the energy landscape.
DOE Energy Utilization Management Bureau Director Patrick T. Aquino updated the audience with policy developments related to designated establishments and the energy service company (ESCO) market. Dir. Aquino said the DOE is closely coordinating with the Board of Investments to streamline guidelines, enhance consistency across agencies, and make tax-based fiscal incentives more accessible to firms undertaking efficiency upgrades. Under the proposed revisions, eligible energy efficiency projects may benefit from tax and duty-free importation of equipment and income tax incentives. The DOE-EUMB chief said the agency also intends to shorten endorsement timelines, targeting a processing period of around 20 working days to encourage greater investor participation in the sector.
PE2 president Alexander Ablaza said, “The Philippine ESCO market is growing and vibrant, but will need enhanced access to capital and more energy-use technologies that deliver better savings, while keeping life cycle costs low. While the local ESCO sector enjoys wide access to cooling technologies, the sector lacks access to heat-related technologies, especially those for waste heat recovery, efficient boilers, steam production and solar thermal cooling systems.” The PE2 head also explained that district energy, especially district cooling systems, are rapidly being mainstreamed by property developers through ESCO-led long-term cooling-as-a-service contracts.
Ablaza also highlighted the fact that the number of ESCOs in the DOE registry has more than doubled in the last five years alone and continues to rise. He said, “It is crucial that more project debt and equity capital and a wider range of more energy-efficient technologies are deployed through the ESCO industry for the country to mobilize over two-thirds of the PHP 12 trillion energy efficiency investment gap through 2040.”
