Philippines readies new renewable energy policies to curb coal dependence

MANILA, July 25 (Reuters) - The Philippines' Department of
Energy (DOE) on Thursday vowed to fast-track the implementation
of two key renewable energy (RE) policies, following President
Rodrigo Duterte's directive to reduce the country's dependence
on coal.
Duterte issued the directive in an annual address to
Congress on Monday.
The Southeast Asian nation aims to double its power
generation capacity by 2030 to support a growing economy, but it
still relies heavily on coal, the cheapest yet dirty fuel
option.
Recent years saw the rash of approvals for coal-fired plants
in the Philippines as it struggles to reduce the cost of
electricity, among the highest in Asia, to attract more foreign
investments.
Under the first policy, called the Renewable Portfolio
Standards, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said power distribution
utilities will be mandated to source a minimum portion of energy
from renewable sources, thus guaranteeing a market for RE
producers.
The minimum requirement will be increased gradually every
year, he said in a statement, without specifying any timeline.
The second policy, called the Green Energy Option, "will
empower consumers to demand that their energy is sourced from
renewable resources," Cusi said, without giving details.
He said the DOE will also establish a Green Energy Rate for
2,000 megawatts of new RE capacity, or a baseline price that
will "support the RE generators with securing (power supply
agreements) and selling their energy".
"To be clear, the Green Energy Rate will not be a
Feed-in-Tariff programme and will not be subsidising the RE
generation sector," Cusi said. "They (RE generators) will need
to be competitive with current market rates."
Cusi, however, said the country's energy security requires
diversification beyond RE, with liquefied natural gas and
coal-fired power plants still considered as "the bridging-fuel
we will need as we transition towards more RE".
"The DOE is committed to encourage competition among all the
technologies," he said.