50% clean energy goal for Mindanao achievable, says ERC

MANILA  -Renewables in Mindanao now comprise 37 percent of its overall energy mix, making it possible for the island group to achieve 50-percent clean energy share by the end of the decade, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said.

ERC Chair Monalisa Dimalanta pointed out at the Mindanao Clean Energy Forum earlier this week that this was already beyond the national target of 35 percent by 2030.

“In this sense, the 50 percent renewable energy [target] by 2030 is a very realistic ambition for Mindanao than the rest of the country,” she said.

READ: PH wants 35% renewables in energy mix by 2030, 50% by 2040

The national government aims to increase the share of renewables in the country from the current 22 percent to 25 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040. The Philippines still mostly relies on coal-fired power plants to meet its energy requirements.

READ: Higher renewable energy growth mandate takes effect

Energy stakeholders in Mindanao, whose energy mix is also still primarily composed of coal at 60 percent, want to achieve the 50-percent mark by 2030.

While Mindanao had already exceeded the national target, Dimalanta told stakeholders to “keep setting the bar high in achieving cleaner and more sustainable energy.”

“We already have the mainstreaming of renewable energy in our energy planning. Gone is the business-as-usual scenario that meant we just increase what is already there,” Dimalanta said, adding that funds were “steadily flowing” to clean energy projects.

Earlier this year, the Board of Investments (BOI) said it hoped to surpass this year the P729-billion renewable energy investments approved in 2022.

According to the BOI, the bulk of the P730.49 billion worth of investments approved from January to September was for the renewable energy sector, which accounted for 76.50 percent, or P558.83 billion. INQ