MANILA – The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has impacted ongoing and new investments in renewable energy, a founder of independent energy, climate, and sustainability professionals group said Wednesday.
In a session of virtual Asia Clean Energy Forum 2020 of the Asian Development Bank, Jennifer Leisch, Two Degrees Group principal, said there are uncertainties surrounding the ongoing and new renewable energy projects due to the pandemic and the lower prices of oil and gas, which are also brought by the global health crisis.
“For projects in the pipeline, there has been (a) slowdown. There’s cancellation, but as a whole, there has been supply chain disruption, regulatory delays, and some other workforce issues that we definitely see to slow down the projects in coming online in the region,” she said.
But Leisch said this will rebound by 2021 according to the International Energy Agency.
“For new projects, that is something that we’re not quite sure of yet,” she said.
Currently, there is a “wait-and-see” attitude in new investments in the power sector taking into consideration the lower oil and gas prices, she added.
Leisch further said existing renewable energy projects have been resilient amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s dispatching more and demands from other plants are going down, and so actually, we have increased penetration of renewable energy happening by default,” she said.
Leisch also underscored the need for the governments, particularly in Southeast Asia, to deploy clean energy goals with economic stimulus plans.
She added investments in clean energy can hit the “sweet spot” of creating more jobs, improving air quality, enhancing resilience, and meeting growing power demand in the region. (PNA)
