In the Philippines, Fluence has brought into commercial operation the first project in an order totalling nearly half a gigawatt, for vertically-integrated power company SMC Global Power Holdings (SMCGPH).

Philippines power generator, supplier and distributor AboitizPower has confirmed progress on large-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects which the company claimed will be part of “the foundation to sustain its long term growth”.

ABB will add at least 80MW of battery storage to Philippines energy company SMC Global Power Holdings’ planned US$1 billion portfolio in the country.

The Philippines is set to become a “full-sized market” for energy storage within a couple of years, according to Wärtsilä’s director for the Australasia region.

Power and energy systems technology group Wärtsilä has completed work on two large-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in the Philippines.

The pilot project, which comprises two 1MW components, has been billed by its backers as the country’s first grid-scale distributed battery system.

Questions around who should own, operate and ultimately benefit from the deployment of energy storage systems could soon be resolved in the Philippines after the government Department of Energy issued a set of draft guidelines.

The Senate committee examining a house bill granting a PV mini-grid franchise to renewable energy firm Solar Philippinnes has been debating the reach of the franchise as well as its exclusivity, with the discussion to reconvene in May after the general election.

The economics of rural electrification using microgrids should be considered an investment for the future, akin to how Silicon Valley tech providers plough money into initially loss-leading products and services, the chief of developer and manufacturer Solar Philippines has said.