CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro – Amid the warning alerts because of thinning power supply in different parts of the country, stakeholders here are pushing for the harnessing of renewable energy sources like solar, wind and hydro.
In a roundtable discussion held at the Bishop Warlito Cajandig Conference in Barangay Salong here on May 17, the organizing Diocesan Social Action Center (DSAC), the Center for Energy, Ecology and Development (CEED), and Lumina Ventures presented the result of a research paper showing that coal remains the dominant energy source in the country, leaving room to explore and advance the adoption of renewable energy (RE).
“In an archipelagic country like the Philippines, establishing RE zones complements the push for a decentralized renewable energy system. However, RE zones must be seen by local governments as a critical element in pursuing local economic and sustainable development,” a research paper stated.
The Department of Energy previously identified what it considers as Competitive Renewable Energy Zones which included Occidental Mindoro in Luzon, Bohol in Visayas and Bukidnon in Mindanao.
But after the conduct of research in Occidental Mindoro, it was deemed important to cover Oriental Mindoro as well based on the proposed one-island approach.
“Under the current energy policy, the main player in energy provision, besides national regulatory agencies, is the private sector. What role can LGUs play in expanding energy access, where 9.5 million or a tenth of Filipinos still have no electricity? And for the rest of the country, what role can LGUs play to ensure a just energy transition to clean sources? This research aims to explore the opportunities and constraints for subnational authorities to expand their role in ensuring a just energy transition and in expanding the accessibility of renewable energy,” the research paper added.
A published study of the CEED also analyzed outages data from 2019 to 2023 and confirmed coal plants as the top reason for red and yellow alerts, comprising 51.23 percent of recorded forced outages during said period.
“In the past five years, 51.23 percent of recorded incidents of forced outages were attributed to coal plants. Data show even relatively new fossil fuel plants suffer from forced outages. April 2024’s series of red and yellow alerts show that 68.7 percent and 76.0 percent of downed capacity for Luzon and Visayas grids respectively came from coal plants,” the CEED study stated.
In a text message on May 18, Fr. Edu Gariguez, head of the DSAC, said that with the current power situation in the country, particularly in Mindoro, it is time for industry players and stakeholders to consider harnessing RE sources.
The discussion was attended by business, medium-scale power providers, and representatives from both nongovernment organizations and local government units from the Oriental and Occidental Mindoro.
Mindoro had been hogging the headlines due to its severe power situation. In both provinces, power distribution is managed by electric cooperatives that are considered off-grid power distributors that currently rely on independent power producers that are bunker fuel-fed.
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