Honoring the country’s commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change does not rest solely with the national government. Indeed, many local governments and communities are proving to be leaders and innovators in voluntarily implementing their own climate-change policies and cutting their own carbon emissions.
Based on total installed on-grid capacity contribution, coal is still the leading power source in the country, providing 8,049 megawatts out of the total 22,262 MW as of end 2017, according to data from the Department of Energy, an overall share of 36.2 percent, up from 34.6 percent in 2016.
Despite this, a few local governments are still determined to ditch coal as a source of electricity in favor of cleaner forms of power generation.
This could very well be the demand shift in energy sourcing that Federico Lopez, chairman and CEO of First Philippine Holdings, First Gen and Energy Development Corp., talked about in his speech during the second Philippine Environment Summit held in February.
Lopez said as more renewable-energy sources come onto the grid and become cheaper, REs, “in due time, will permeate our lives whether we like it or not.”
He said coal power plants are likely to end up as underutilized or stranded assets in 10 years, or even less, given the rapid pace of renewables.
Sorsogon City and Guimaras province recently joined a growing list of local governments that are determined to phase out coal use and become total RE consumers. Sorsogon City vowed to pursue environment-friendly programs and practices following the local government’s decision to approve a resolution, declaring itself a “Clean Energy City.”
In pursuit of the declaration, the city government adopted a policy, “prohibiting all offices in Sorsogon City from issuing any permit, authorization, endorsement or any expression of support to the development of coal-fired power-plant projects in the city.”
The resolution noted that Sorsogon City is “vulnerable to the effects of climate change like strong typhoons and climate surges.”
“It cannot, in good conscience, allow coal-fired power plants in the city because of their destructive effects to the environment and their negative impact to climate change,” it said. During ceremonies coinciding with the visit of the Greenpeace flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, to the province on February 24, Guimaras Gov. Samuel T. Gumarin and the municipal mayors of the island declared Guimaras as the first coal-free province in the Visayas.
“We want to show the world that we don’t need dirty energy to power development. The people of Guimaras have embraced renewables over dirty, polluting energy. We want to show that a sustainable development path, powered by renewable energy, is not only possible, but more viable. And we hope that our humble example will resonate to other provinces and to the world,” Gumarin said.
Guimaras is home to the 54-MW San Lorenzo wind farm, which has been operational since 2014, and is said to be the first wind farm in the Visayas. There are plans for expanding it with an additional 40-MW in Barangay Sebaste, Sibunag.
The power generated from the wind farm is directed to the grid and shared with member-consumers across Luzon and the Visayas through the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market. With the 40-MW expansion, the operators of the wind farms expect to be able to cover the energy demands of neighboring Iloilo province.
In 2016 Ilocos Norte, touted as “the undisputed wind energy capital of the Philippines,” was the first province in the Philippines to ban coal use and production when its provincial government passed Resolution 017-2016.
Ilocos Norte is host to the Energy Development Corp.’s (EDC) 150-MW Burgos Wind Power Project, the Northern Luzon UPC Asia Corp.’s 8-MW Caparispisan Wind Power Station and the Northwind Power and Development Corp.’s 52-MW Bangui Wind Power Project.
Other RE projects include the 5-MW Agua Grande hydroelectric-power plant in Pagudpud town and solar farms—the 20-MW facility of Soleq Philippines Inc. and the 4.1-MW and 2.6-MW facilities of the EDC.
The leading role of these local governments in climate-change action is quite commendable. Such policies, actions and movements only show that with or without the national government’s firm leadership in tackling climate change, local governments can still do a lot to lower their carbon emissions and transform their cities and provinces into greener, healthier and more prosperous places to live in.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano