MANILA — Digital Pinoys national campaigner Ronald Gustilo said the Philippines lost a “golden opportunity” to position itself as a leading regional data center hub due to the failure of major renewable energy projects to deliver their committed power supply.
Gustilo pointed to the shortcomings of Solar Philippines, a company founded by Cong. Leandro Leviste, as a key factor in the country’s inability to emerge as a hyperscaler destination.
According to Gustilo, the failure of the company to fulfill nearly 12 gigawatts of its promised renewable energy capacity from power projects it had secured is already being felt by Filipino households, citing lost economic opportunities and jobs resulting from the stalled renewable energy projects.
“This was not just an energy project failure. This was a lost national opportunity. The Philippines failed to build data centers, AI infrastructure, and a strong digital economy because electricity that was promised was never delivered,” Gustilo said in a statement.
Solar Philippines accounted for 64 percent of all terminated renewable energy contracts, representing more than 11,000 megawatts (MW) of capacity.
He stressed that the undelivered 12 gigawatts of capacity could have supported more than 100 hyperscale data centers and attracted over USD 100 billion in potential foreign investments.
Because of the failure to deliver the promised power supply, Gustilo said international technology firms instead brought their operations to neighboring countries where electricity commitments were actually met.
“Data center investors don’t listen to projections or press releases. They look at delivered power. When projects of this scale fail, investors don’t wait. They leave, and they may never come back,” he added.
Gustilo also warned that the non-delivery of large-scale power capacity has significantly undermined the country’s ambition to host cloud computing and artificial intelligence services.
“Non-performance at this scale cost the country industries, jobs, and digital sovereignty. We lost a golden opportunity to compete at the Asean level, not because of a lack of vision, but because a company failed to deliver the contracts it won,” he said.
Digital Pinoys is a network of digital advocates in the Philippines who are focused on promoting safe, fair, and responsible digital spaces in the country. PR