DOE: Private sector help vital in energy transition

MANILA  -Energy transition in the Asia-Pacific region remains costly and is going “slower than expected,” the Department of Energy (DOE) said, as developing countries still carried the burden of having to retire their coal plants sans help from financiers.

Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla noted that Indonesia and Vietnam already have energy transition partnerships (JETPs) but their progress had been relatively slow since last year.

JETPs are multilateral financing schemes that aim to help emerging economies phase out fossil fuels and shift to clean energy.

Indonesia, for example, got a pledge of $20 billion for its transition plans last year, but it had only so far established a JETP secretariat.

“Indonesia is actually complaining that developed countries are not willing to fund even coal transition,” he said.

Lotilla warned that the Philippines might encounter the same problem, and noted that the government was trying to develop a JETP “with Philippine characteristics.”

The Philippines is qualified to receive funding but it has not yet been included in transactions since the mechanism was launched in Nov. 2021.

It is also the only Southeast Asian country that has not yet made a net-zero commitment, but Lotilla said the government was “not making any excuses” but noted that private-owned energy assets made transition more challenging.

“Whereas it is easier for other countries to commit because their power assets are state-owned, it is more difficult for a country like the Philippines to do so and any transition arrangement would have to make business sense for the private sector,” he said.