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Philippines fail on creating healthy market for renewable energy development

Philippines fail on creating healthy market for renewable energy development Naga coal power plant, Philippines (source: ph.worldmapz.com)
Alexander Richter 17 Jul 2018

A rather discouraging article in the Manila Standard highlights how the Philippines fails on supporting renewable energy development instead seeing an ever increasing dependence on coal fired power.

In an article published by the Manila Standard last week, it is reported how the Philippines continue to rely heavily on coal and “miserably failed” to meet its goal of doubling the installed capacity of renewable capacity, 10 years after the passage of the Renewable Energy Law. This was highlighted by Senator Loren Legarda.

“The most intriguing aspect of RE Law implementation in our country is, arguably, the absence of a clear and strong political commitment to develop and stimulate a healthy market for renewable energy development,” Legarda said during a symposium on renewable energy. Legarda said while the Renewable Law of 2008 aimed to reduce the volume of coal importation, the Philippines ended up importing more. “We cannot claim energy independence for as long as we rely on imported fuel. Unless we are willing to embrace the reality that RE is a global phenomenon that is beginning to replace coal and fossil fuels as a cheaper fuel source, our energy policies will continue to waver, reflecting the lack of political commitment that will consequently drive investors away.  All this will bear upon our power consumers,” she said. Legarda said the volume of imported coal increased by an average of 12.8 percent annually from 1989 to 2015.  Data also showed that installed capacities of coal power plants jumped 87 percent to 7,419 megawatts in 2016 from 3,967 MW in 2005. Another 10,423 MW of coal-fired power plants is in the pipeline.

For the full article see the link below.

Source: Manila Standard