State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is stepping up its efforts to promote energy efficiency and conservation with a new program that will finance the energy efficiency projects of public and private institutions, a top official said.
DBP president and chief executive officer Cecilia C. Borromeo said the DBP Energy Efficiency Savings (E2SAVE) Financing Program is designed to assist public and private firms to enhance their productivity by adopting new technologies that will advance optimal power consumption in their energy-related projects.
“We realize that energy efficiency is not considered a core business in the public and private sectors and we want to actively contribute to change that notion,” Borromeo said. “The E2SAVE will address the need for an affordable and innovative financing scheme to help institutions lower their electricity costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” she said.
The E2SAVE was designed as the DBP’s response to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) efforts to minimize monthly consumption of electricity and petroleum products of government agencies nationwide.
The program is also in line with the government’s commitment to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation, which sets the common energy goals of the ASEAN member-states such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Borromeo said eligible borrowers for the program include national government agencies, government-owned-and-controlled corporations, state universities and colleges, local government units, private companies and DOE-accredited energy service companies.
She said eligible projects include the replacement and installation of highly efficient mechanical and electrical equipment such as lighting, room air conditioning, motors, chillers, refrigeration units, pumps, and heating and ventilation equipment.
“The replacement and installation of industrial technologies such as broilers, kilns, and heat exchangers may also be funded under the program,” Borromeo said.
“Other eligible projects are industrial process improvement and system optimization, recovery and utilization of by-product gas, waste and water pressure, and preparation of energy audit or investment grade audit report for government entities,” she said.