By means of Heroes Joy Talavera News reporter
THE PHILIPPINES continue to do so depend on coal-fired power stations is struggling to implement policies to increase renewable energy capacity, analysts said.
Data from energy think tank Ember shows that the Philippines is now the most coal-dependent country in Southeast Asia, surpassing Indonesia and China.
“This is a result of the country’s inability to transition to renewable energy sources and the country’s inability to predict long-term social impacts,” Leonardo A. Lanzona, Jr., professor of economics at Ateneo de Manila University, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
“While we can reduce production costs, the looming environmental costs of these policies will outweigh the benefits,” he added.
Ember data shows that the share of electricity generated from coal in the Philippines increased by 2.9% 61.9% in 2023, compared to 59.1% in 2022.
“As for the Philippines, coal production grew much faster than the increase in electricity demand (9.7% versus 4.6%). Absolute coal production ranks 17the in the world, but it ranks eighth in generational shares,” Ember said in a statement on Monday.
Mr. Lanzona said the Philippines’ coal dependence has not increased significantly but has surpassed other countries with limited coal consumption.
In 2023, 62% of energy generation was provided by coal-fired power plants with a capacity of 69,472 gigawatt hours, based on data from the Department of Energy (DoE).
DoE data shows that the country has more than 6,300 megawatts (MW) of reliable coal capacity that is ten years old or less. These plants can be relied upon to continue to operate for at least another 30 years.
Mr. Lanzona said the Philippines’ transition to green energy has been hampered by the lack of government programs.
“The lack of skills and manpower to develop large-scale renewable energy programs is one of the key constraints [in the green energy transition],” he said.
The Philippines already has a plan to accelerate the voluntary retirement of up to 900 MW of existing coal-fired power generation capacity by 2027 under the Accelerating Coal Transition (ACT) investment plan.
In 2020, the DoE issued a moratorium on the development of new coal-fired power plants to reduce the Philippines’ dependence on coal.
However, Gerry C. Arances, executive director of the think tank Center for Energy, Ecology and Development, said the increase in renewables in the energy mix is overshadowed by the fact that coal-fired power plants have not yet closed.
“The 2020 coal moratorium brought with it the possibility of an urgent shift to renewable energy, but the Philippines faced the threat of the aggressive push for natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) that would instead crowd out access to renewable energy sources “, he said. a Viber message.
The share of renewable energy (RE) in the country’s energy generation mix is 22%. The government aims to increase the share of sustainable energy to 35% in 2030 and 50% in 2050.
Ember said the Philippines and Indonesia have seen limited growth in renewable energy generation as their wind and solar energy potential “remains almost completely untapped.”
Indonesia and the Philippines also have a smaller share of wind and solar energy in their electricity mix than most other countries in Southeast Asia.
“Wind and solar energy can be deployed faster than any other renewable electricity source and are also the cheapest source of electricity. Accelerating their deployment would enable Indonesia and the Philippines to meet their growing demand for electricity with renewable energy sources and reduce their dependence on coal,” Ember said.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Robert Dan J. Roces, chief economist at Security Bank Corp., said the falling costs of renewable energy make it a more sustainable long-term option.
“However, the Philippines remains bogged down by existing coal infrastructure and policy hurdles that do not yet encourage renewables,” he said in a Viber message. “Compared to regional neighbors who are aggressively scaling up solar, wind and energyFicency measures, the Philippines is lagging behind.”
Mr. Roces said the Philippine government must revamp regulations, streamline permitting procedures and modernize the power grid.
Calixto V. Chikiamco, president of the Foundation for Economic Freedom, said renewable energy challenges include intermittency, technologies that require significantFimportant parts of the country, such as solar, and parts that are location specificFic and require long transmission lines to connect to the power grid, such as wind power.
Jose M. Layug, Jr., president of the Developers of Renewable Energy for Advancement, Inc., also cited difficulties in obtaining permits and delays in regulatory approvals for power contracts and transmission projects.
“Now, under President [Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.], [Energy] Secretary [Raphael P.M. Lotilla] And [Energy Regulatory Commission] Chair [Monalisa C. Dimalanta]we have sent the right signals to the private sector and investors: the Philippines wants cheaper, more sustainable and more effcient renewable energy sources,” he said in a Viber message.
Investments in renewable energy projects increased after the Philippine government allowed full foreign ownership in the sector from November 2022.
Foreign nationals and foreign-owned entities are now allowed to explore, develop and utilize renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass, ocean or tidal energy in the Philippines. Foreign ownership of RE projects was previously limited to 40%.