The country’s long and winding road to de-carbonized energy sector may partly pin its hope on the next wave of 60 renewable energy (RE) project applications yet to be approved by the Department of Energy.

“There are 60 more (RE) applications in the pipeline. We are reviewing them and hopefully grant approval soon,” Energy secretary Angelo T. Reyes said.

Of the more than 100 applications touted by the department when the RE Law was passed, the energy chief noted that around 30 proposals have already been acted upon.

The Philippines, while proud of its achievement on the passage of the RE Law, is one of the markets dealing with reality that the short-term solution to the country’s energy needs may still depend largely on fossil fuels.

In the past months, the DoE busied itself signing various RE project contracts with proponents, primarily for prospective development of wind and hydro capacities. On the side though, it is also signing contracts for fossil fuel energy explorations, such as coal and natural gas.

But Reyes said the government is determined at establishing the starting point – primarily in stimulating investments for RE capacities.

The energy chief cited the country’s potential on that sphere, emphasizing the extent of support the sector has been generating from private investors and even from project funders, chiefly the multilateral lending institutions.

The goal of the department, he said, would be “for investors to see the Philippines as a preferred area for investment in low-carbon future and more specifically, for renewable energy.”

Despite investment flows, there are several hurdles that the Philippine market has yet to address towards assuring that RE would thrive as a sustainable addition in the energy mix over the long-term.

One aspect would be RE capacity’s price, especially when subsidies no longer exist; and another would be the efficient grid integration of intermittent sources, such as wind, solar or ocean resources.

For the many energy plans mapped out by various countries, the viability of RE is seen traversing a “long journey” that the dominance of oil and coal may remain even in the next 20 to 30 years.

Albeit it is a very small market compared to the ‘economic superpowers’ which have been trumpeting their foray into massive RE development, the Philippines tugged its way into the same policy domain in the hope that it would not only be clearing its way to clean energy future but also in generating revenues from carbon trading emissions, primarily anchoring on the post-Kyoto plan to be concretized at the Copenhagen summit.