Manila billionaire Henry Sy Jr. pitches $11-billion 10,000MW 'powerbank' to cut electricity rates: Will EPIRA let him do it?

MANILA: Filipino tycoon Henry Sy Jr. is pitching a nationwide chain of battery energy storage systems to help ease high electricity costs over the long term.

His idea: prepare the grid for a possible El Niño in 2027, through a relatively quick rollout of giant powerbanks.

Speaking at a rare media chat on Thursday, Sy, who chairs the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP)’s parent firm Synergy Grid & Development Philippines Inc., said the country should take advantage of the sharp decline in battery prices.

He said the battery buildout could reach 10,000 MW in a relatively short period of time: five years.

At a cost of at least ₱7 billion per 100 MW, the first 850 MW would cost about ₱59.5 billion.

The full 10,000 MW battery network would run around ₱700 billion (about $11 billion).

By comparison, the controversial and kickback-ridden Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) with a Westinghouse reactor, built from 1976 to 1983, costing Filipino taxpayers $2.3 billion — but was never energised — is rated at 621MW.

The proposal is tied to NGCP’s “Project Airbag.”

NGCP says 850 MW is ongoing across six sites, including Laoag, Gamu, Santiago, Calatrava, Dumanjug and Ubay, with another 1,000 MW across 12 sites under assessment.

Sy framed it as a bridge: batteries do not create electricity and cannot replace dependable generation over long periods.

The timing reflects supply and price pressure. El Niño could cut hydropower output where plants depend on rainfall and reservoirs, and the Visayas is especially tight.

The DOE said the average electricity rate hit ₱12.43 per kWh, the highest in Southeast Asia.

The DOE’s Power Development Plan projects peak demand rising from 16,596 MW in 2022 to 68,483 MW in 2050, about 5.2% a year.

A summary of the Philippine Energy Plan puts peak demand at 33,056 MW by 2035, up about 83% from 18,056 MW in 2024.

By that yardstick, 10,000 MW of batteries would equal roughly 30% of 2035 peak demand.

That counts as capacity, not new supply.

The DOE has also outlined a 10-year auction for at least 25 GW of renewables, with deliveries from 2027 through 2035.

Batteries are not new here. San Miguel Global Power says it operates about 1,000 MW of battery storage across 32 locations. The open question is who may own them.

There may be a legal challenge to this grid-scale battery drive: DOE rule bars NGCP from owning batteries because EPIRA treats them as generation.

Sy said storage could eventually help integrate more renewables and reduce exposure to imported fuel price swings.

• Ramp-up plan: Local media reported the mega-battery plan with the following figures: ₱7B per 100 MW gives ₱59.5B for 850 MW; and ₱700B for 10,000 MW.

• “Giant batteries”: The plan is "grid-scale" battery energy storage system (BESS) at multiple sites, not one giant battery.

• The ₱700B is not an approved budget: Sy Jr said it “could be” 10,000 MW. Only the 850 MW across six sites is described as "ongoing".

• Storage duration is unreported: The figures are in megawatts ()MW), not megawatt hours (MWh), so the number of hours the batteries can discharge is unclear.

• Ownership is unresolved. Local reporting framed the pitch as allowing NGCP to "invest". It is not clear whether the DOE rule or the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) wou;c consider NGCP, a grid operator, to invest in grid-scale battery storage. It's a regulatory gray area.

• Battery storage prices have fallen 93% in 15 years, making solar-plus-storage a rival to gas "peaker" plants, according to a McKinsey & Co analysis published Oct. 22.

• Utility-scale solar is the lowest-cost power source in most Asian markets.

• Renewable costs across Asia-Pacific are reportedly about 13% below coal and could be a third cheaper by 2030. Solar overtook gas as Asia’s third-largest power source in the 12 months to April 2026.

• According to Mordor Intelligence Philippines Solar Energy Market Report, national solar capacity is projected to grow rapidly through the coming years:

  2026: ~5.43 GW

  2027: ~6.94 GW (boosted by major utility projects like the Meralco Terra Solar project adding up to 3,500 MWp upon phased rollout)

  2032: Projected to reach 23.35 GW, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.46% from 2027 onward.

Henry Sy Jr. is positioning NGCP as a storage owner to bridge supply gaps and stabilise rising electricity demand, but ownership rules and financing -- not technology -- will decide whether this scales.

Electricity costs are the highest in Southeast Asia. If storage cuts peak shortages and costly emergency supply, households and businesses benefit, but the P700 billion price tag raises questions about who pays.

The initial work for Henry Sr Jr's proposal, linked to NGCP’s “Project Airbag”, is already in place: 850 MW is ongoing across six sites, with another 1,000 MW across 12 sites "under assessment".

Manila Magnate Henry Sy Jr. pitched a ₱700-billion, 10,000-MW battery buildout via NGCP. An 850-MW first phase across six sites is underway, as a bridge to a possible 2027 El Niño.

Watch for DOE and ERC positions on NGCP owning batteries, financing and rate treatment, the 1,000-MW assessment results, and whether the 2027 El Niño forecast firms up.