Welcome to my new energy blog

Dear Readers,

I am reposting my energy articles in BusinessWorld from 2015 to present, for easier and focused reference. Hope you will find them useful. Thank you.

Bienvenido "Nonoy" Oplas Jr.
Manila, Philippines

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On hydropower and CBK’s privatization

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On hydropower and CBK’s privatization July 8, 2025 | 12:02 am My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2025/07/08/683682/on-hydropower-and-cbks-privatization/   The Philippines experiences plenty of flooding yearly. Our problem is we have too much water and thus floods, but we do not have enough dams, weirs, artificial lakes, and other water catchment and storage structures to take advantage and control all that water. In 2024, hydroelectricity contributed 11.1 terawatt-hours (TWh) or 8.6% of our total power generation.   Many Asian nations hydroelectricity generation is high, like China with 1,354 TWh, Vietnam with 89 TWh, Malaysia has 34 TWh, and Indonesia’s 26 TWh (see Table 1).   On June 10, the Energy department released the Notice of Award for Green Energy Auction 3 (GEA-3) for Pumped-Storage Hydropower (PSH) with a combined capacity of 6,100 megawatts (MW) in Luzon alone. The Energy Regulatory Board’s (ERC) recommended rate...
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Nuclear energy and new DoE leadership

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Nuclear energy and new DoE leadership May 29, 2025 | 12:02 am My Cup Of Liberty By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2025/05/29/675548/nuclear-energy-and-new-doe-leadership/   Among the important achievements of outgoing Department of Energy (DoE) Secretary Raphael PM Lotilla is building a strong legal and regulatory framework for nuclear energy, including pushing for the creation of the Philippine Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (PhilATOM), plus submitting the necessary requirements for the ratification of existing nuclear energy-related agreements. Good job, Sir, although the Senate is slow to act on the PhilATOM bill.   The DoE also recently launched a series of Nuclear Energy Awareness Training (NEAT) seminars. The last one was held last week, May 20-22, at the Park Inn by Radisson in Quezon City, organized by the Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee (NEP-IAC). The next NEAT is “Philippine Nuclear Energy 101: Powering the Future” on ...
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Energy and economic impact of Russia-Ukraine war

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* My article in  BusinessWorld  last February 28. ----------- Energy and economic impact of Russia-Ukraine war Even before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, coal and gas prices were already high in 2020 and 2021 compared to 2019. Oil prices were lower in 2020 but increased in 2021. The main reason is high demand for these fossil fuel products compared to supply, despite continuing global narratives of “decarbonization” and “net zero.” HIGH PRICES FOR FOSSIL FUELS, CONTRACTION FOR WIND-SOLAR Peak prices of fossil fuel products in 2021 compared to end-2020 levels were 235% higher for coal (Newscastle, Australia), 700% for UK gas, and 840% for TTF/EU gas. Huge. And this was before the Russia invasion. When Russian fighter planes and tanks entered Ukraine, oil prices quickly touched the $100/barrel mark, EU gas prices were up to 50% than their previous day level. But prices retreated many hours later because gas flows from Russia pipelines continued unhampered as if there was no ...
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