The Department of Energy’s recent decision to stop endorsing new coal power plants should be lauded and welcomed. Indeed, it took a long time coming.
In declaring the moratorium, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi cited the need to shift to a “more flexible power supply mix” that would help build a more sustainable power system in the country. This is somewhat a departure from his previous “technology neutral” position. He said before that the government will not favor nor discourage any particular technology for power generation and all power plants should compete with other types of technology without government support.
We are glad for the change of heart, as this is more in line with the Philippine government’s commitment to significantly increase its renewable energy capacity by 2030, aiming to install 15,400 MW from RE to account for half of the country’s power demand. This was the target set forth in the Philippines’s National Renewable Energy Program, under the RE law of 2008.
Transitioning from coal will not happen overnight but it needs to be started today. Actually, the best time to start was yesterday.
The Lopez-owned First Philippine Holdings and its subsidiaries completely divested from coal four years ago, led by Federico “Piki” Lopez, who was recently chosen Man of the Year 2020 by the Management Association of the Philippines “for passionately pushing for the country’s transition to a low-carbon economy through his various advocacies to proactively address the irreparable damage of climate change.”
Piki Lopez said back in 2016 that 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. The man saw the handwriting on the wall.
For the past few years, some local governments committed to phase out coal use to become renewable energy consumers, including Ilocos Norte, Sorsogon City, Guimaras and Negros Occidental.
Wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, biomass and other renewable energy sources can provide a competitive advantage over coal as they are readily available in our country and their costs remain stable and under control, not subject to the price volatilities of fossil fuels.
But there is a more compelling reason to explore more renewable energy projects. We have seen how vulnerable the Philippines is to extreme weather events caused by climate change. The Philippines is one of the nations that are most in danger of facing more frequent and more intense storms as climate change worsens.
We need no reminder of this, as Typhoon Rolly, the world’s strongest typhoon of 2020, battered our country on Sunday, joining the likes of Ondoy, Pepeng, Yolanda, and Pablo, which are some of the deadliest tropical storms that hit the Philippines in the last few years, causing thousands of deaths and billions in economic damages.
Natural extreme events and disasters cost the Philippine economy nearly half a trillion pesos between 2010 and 2019, according to data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Renewable energy can significantly slow climate change and save millions of lives. Wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, biomass and other RE power plants can displace hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon emissions in the country while generating a significant number of jobs, boosting economic activity in the host provinces where they operate. Their environmental and economic benefits extend well beyond our GDP to improve the health and well-being of our citizens.
Coal is the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel and accounts for 43 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions, which countries that ratified the Paris Agreement, including the Philippines, vowed to reduce by 70 percent by 2030.
Coal may be abundant and cheap but more coal consumption can only lead to more greenhouse-gas emissions, and it is countries like the Philippines that would suffer from the subsequent climate change disasters.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano