Under the European Union project “Switch to High Efficiency Motors,” the Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines (IIEE) is spearheading a forum on Wednesday, that will have investors in the sugar industry meeting bank executives to exchange views on effective financial schemes that can support the industry’s switch to high-efficiency motors (HEMs).

HEMs Project Manager Marvin Ryan Bathan said the “Forum to Address Road Blocks to Financing Sugar Millers’ Energy Efficiency Projects” they are holding at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel will bring together the two sides in one venue for them to gain a clear perspective on ways to develop the country’s sugar industry.

“The HEMs project aims to increase the deployment of more efficient motors and drive systems in Philippine sugar industries. This forum will provide bankers a briefing on the current status of the sugar industry and provide sugar millers information on financing schemes available that can facilitate their switch to HEMs,” Bathan said.

The consortium expects a switch to HEMs will pave the way for sugar millers to generate excess energy which they can then offer to the grid to augment power supply and help in averting a power crisis.

The move is also aimed at strengthening the position of the local sugar millers in light of the Asean integration which is expected to bring increased competition with the lowering of tariffs.

Expected to be present during the forum are Sugar Regulatory Administration Head Maria Regina Bautista-Martin, Philippine Sugar Millers Association President Francisco Varua, Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) Secretary-General Octavio Peralta, Climate Technology Initiative Private Financing Advisory Network Philippine Country Coordinator Rafael Coscolluela, and Cofely Philippines General Manager Raymond Marquez.

Aside from IIEE, others involved in the consortium are the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation, ADFIAP, Association Action for Sustainable Development, and the International Copper Association Southeast Asia.

Source: Business Mirror