The Philippines is looking at exporting renewable energy to Taiwan and other countries, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said, a lofty strategy that would take advantage of surplus capacity.

There are ongoing discussions between officials in Manila and Taipei, he said. “It’s not only Taiwan that has approached us but other countries in anticipation of excess capacity in renewable energy,” Lotilla told a media briefing on Thursday.

Still, the strategy is among the most ambitious efforts to export clean energy in Asia. The region has struggled and largely failed to create cross-border transmission networks despite decades of proposals due to political and technical hurdles.

Talks with those in Southeast Asia are being made in the context of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ power grid, an initiative to interconnect electricity grids in the region, according to Lotilla. “In the case of Taiwan and others which are not members of Asean, then we will have to look further into the regional framework for those.”

The Philippines is among Southeast Asian countries with aggressive plans for clean-power projects with the government easing investment restrictions and policies to attract domestic and foreign cash.

The nation is aiming to increase the share of renewable energy in its power generation mix to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040. But it had to pause from accepting and processing renewable contracts for five months last year following a flood of applications.

Taiwan has been considering building renewable power plants in nearby countries like the Philippines and importing the generated electricity to feed the needs of its manufacturers. 

Taiwan’s Economic Minister Kuo Jyh-huei said earlier this month that green energy imports from the Philippines could help reduce the carbon footprint of Taiwanese exporters as costs could remain under NT$5 (17 US cents) per kilowatt-hour. 

The Philippines’ Department of Energy is also looking to award this year contracts for two gas exploration projects in Sulu Sea and another one in Palawan province, Undersecretary Alessandro Sales said.

Manila has been working to explore other parts of the country that are potentially rich in oil and gas as talks with Beijing on joint resource development in the South China Sea are stalled by tensions between the two nations.