Huawei held its Spring Launch Event at Shangri-La The Fort on January 21, not about its latest gadgets, but about how we generate and manage electricity in a world shifting toward renewable energy. The event, themed “Entering the All-Scenario Grid-Forming Era,” introduced Huawei’s latest FusionSolar 9.0 Utility Smart PV Solution to the Philippine energy community.

Huawei intends solar power systems not just to produce energy but to help stabilize and support the power grid itself. Traditional solar systems simply feed electricity into the grid. These grid-forming solutions help maintain the voltage, frequency, and overall stability of the grid, which is very important as renewable sources become a bigger part of the energy mix.

Under Huawei’s FusionSolar 9.0, new hardware and software work together to turn solar plants into “active grid supporters.” This means features like smart inverters and AI-driven management tools can react to changes in the grid, help prevent outages, and quickly restart systems if power goes down, making renewable energy more reliable and cost-effective.

At the Philippine launch, officials from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) stressed that strong technical standards are crucial as renewable energy grows, and that grid-forming technology is part of what modern power systems will need. This points to a broader shift in the country’s energy policy discussions, not just how much clean energy we can install, but how well it works with the grid.

Huawei officials also shared data showing how much solar energy is already being generated and used around the world with their technology. Globally, Huawei’s FusionSolar systems have helped customers produce huge amounts of clean electricity. For example, by March 2023, Huawei Digital Power had supported the production of around 769.5 billion kilowatt-hours of green electricity worldwide, helping avoid 350 million tons of carbon emissions, which is roughly the equivalent of planting 480 million trees.

Huawei also reported that millions of homes across more than 170 countries are now powered with FusionSolar residential systems, providing clean energy directly to households. In Southeast Asia, one report noted that over 80,000 Thai homes are now using Huawei-branded solar systems capable of covering a significant portion of their electricity needs.

These figures help illustrate that renewable energy — especially solar — isn’t just a future goal but a rapidly growing part of our energy mix today, adding important context to the Philippines’ own renewable ambitions.

Thanks to my dear friend Atty. Valery Brion, head of Huawei’s Regulatory and Industry Affairs, for inviting me to the event. It was also nice seeing you, Atty. Sari and Ms. Ria of the Office of Senator Pia Cayetano.