The Department of Energy (DOE) should ensure that there will be no delays in the approval and roll-out of coal-fired power plants, as fossil-fuel power-generating facilities remain the most stable and viable source for energy, the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) said on Tuesday.
FPI Chairman Jesus Lim Arranza, in an interview with reporters, said that, while the Philippines remains committed to climate-change commitments, renewable-energy (RE) should be considered as a second option.
“We are encouraging RE, but the issue is its reliablity. It’s not as stable as coal,” Arranza said.
The sentiment was aired amid the increasing trend to “green energy,” on account of which environmental groups are denouncing further operations of coal-fired plants.
Redondo Peninsula Energy was issued a writ of kalikasan by the Court of Appeals in 2013, effectively invalidating the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The Supreme Court reversed the ruling a year later.
An Aboitiz Power plant in Davao City similarly met resistance from environmental group Greenpeace.
“Power plants which are ready for implementation and already endorsed by the DOE, and whose application for the ECC has been processed, should not, in any way, be delayed,” Arranza said.
“The fear has always been there, whether we might have a power interruption because of the 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant [of Redondo] for three years. If that was up and running, there would have been no hesitance for firms to put up manufacturing facilities, because they know they have that supply of power,” Arranza said.
The FPI is the largest organization of manufacturing firms in the country.