Photo Credit: Keith Bacongco via Compfight cc
Although newly elected Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte hasn’t assumed his seat in his new role yet, he is already facing plenty of challenges at the start of his six-year term.
Digong, as popularly known by locals, has been direct about his plans of promoting peace and order in the country, but he lacks sustainable projects to promote renewable energy in the country.
Many developing nations in Asia are now focused on building a sustainable society, where countries such as India have garnered enough investment to boost their renewable energy projects. The country plans to add more than 33GW of wind energy capacity and over 93GW of solar power in over the next six years.
Duterte will have to face plenty of renewable energy challenges before presenting an action plan to the public. If the president is serious about building a sustainable country, he will have to tackle the following:
Review EPIRA
Passed in 2001, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act was the government’s response to the power crisis in the nation that has been an ongoing issue since 1990s. This has led to bulk privatization of state-owned power companies, such as MERALCO, and many transmission assets. Coal has become the primary source of power, as Energy Secretary Zenaida Monsada said it’s the “least costly, fastest and biggest supply choice so far.” The Philippines have increased construction of coal-fired power plants in the country, with more than 50 in the pipeline. Thus, many Filipinos are heavily dependent on this cheaper energy option, because they cannot afford alternative options.
Eliminating fossil fuels
As aforementioned, the Philippines remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels, where coal and oil contributes to nearly half of the total energy sources used in the country. Think Tank firm IHS reported that the coal usage in the nation will take up about 56% of the energy produced by the country in 2020. It warns the Philippines needs to have a balanced fuel mix if it’s able to sustain growth and lessen environmental impacts in the future.
However, even developed countries such as the US depend highly on fossil fuels extracted from the Middle East and other top crude producing nations, even though they have multiple sustainable projects in place. In fact, experienced oil and gas firms that operate in said regions survived the current turmoil in the industry related to oversupply and slumping of the petrol price on the world market. Some have even continued to strike partnership deals with local crude companies to create more gas pipes in the future. Thus, it’s going to be a challenging task for Duterte to convince Filipinos to support renewable energy over coal.
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Solve the power issue in Mindanao
Many Filipinos, particularly in the south, have no sustainable access to stable electricity lines. In fact, some residents in Mindanao have to face rotating power outages that lasts 2 to 3 hours every day during the hottest periods of the year. The region generates more than half of its energy needs through hydropower, which is failing because of sustained periods of drought. So, Duterte will have to establish immediate and long-term solutions to address the energy supply in the whole country, especially in his home region. This will help in the development of the sustainability laws and projects that will promote green power in the Philippines.