The Philippines is aiming for renewable energy to account for 35 percent of the country’s power generation mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040, based on an updated plan that showed slight deviations from the government’s original targets.
With 2022 on the horizon, the Department of Energy (DOE) finally issued its amended Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) 2020-2040, supposedly a yearly undertaking based on the Electric Power Industry Reform Act. This latest plan updates the PEP 2018-2040, issued two years late last November 2020.
By comparison, the targets set under PEP 2018-2040 projects that by 2040, renewable energy’s share will have reached a 54-percent share of the capacity mix. It did not explain the downward change.
The targets are based on a clean energy scenario (CES), a higher and more ideal level vis-à-vis a reference scenario (REF), whereby current development trends (such as supply and demand) are assumed to affect planning strategies. REF is the lower end of the targets.
The DOE said that under the REF, a 35-percent share of renewables in the power mix may be achieved by 2040 or 10 years later than the CES goal.
The PEP 2020-2040 also showed that, to achieve the target, the Philippines needed predevelopment investments of about P17.9 billion under the REF and P25.3 billion under the CES.
For renewables to account for half of the power mix by 2040, 73,900 MW of additional capacity is needed.
Latest data from the DOE showed that, in terms of installed capacity, the share of renewables in the mix was 29.1 percent as of 2020 at 7,563 megawatts out of a total of 26,286 MW.
This saw a decline from 33.7 percent in 2005 at 5,226 MW out of 15,1519 MW.
In terms of actual output, renewables accounted for 21.2 percent at 21,609 gigaWatt-hours out of a total of 101,756 gWh.
This was also a decline from 32.7 percent in 2005 at 18,308 gWh out of 55,957 gWh.
“Through the PEP, we will rally towards energy security, resiliency, access and affordability in the realm of our long-term clean energy commitment,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.
“This PEP advocates for the development and use of existing and emerging technologies in the most efficient and sustainable manner,” Cusi added. INQ