Philippines' coal power dependency can't be compared to China, Indonesia — DOE

The Department of Energy (DOE) on Wednesday issued a clarification on a report which indicated that the Philippines has surpassed China and Indonesia in terms of dependence on coal-fired power.

In a statement, the Energy Department said that the country's power generation mix "cannot be directly compared with large economies like China and Indonesia."

The DOE explained that this was "due to significant differences in demographic, economic, and energy profiles."

According to a data released by Ember, coal accounted for 61.92% of the Philippines' power mix in 2023, ranking seventh on the list of top 10 most coal-dependent nations.

The Philippines outranked Indonesia which placed eighth in terms of share of coal in the power mix, while China is not in the top 10.

However, the DOE, citing data from Global Energy Monitor Report as of January 2024, said that China has an installed coal power plant capacity of 1,136.7 gigawatts (GW), Indonesia has 51.6 GW, "while the Philippines has only 12.1 GW."

"This underscored the vast difference in the scale of energy economic infrastructures among the three countries," the Energy Department said.

"Moreover, the disparity is evident in the gross generation mix from coal power plants," it said.

The DOE said that, in 2021, China generated 5.4 million gigawatt-hours (GWh) from coal, Indonesia produced 189,683 GWH, "while the Philippines only generated 65,052 GWh."

"Even with the increase to 69,472 GWh in 2023, the Philippines' figures remain significantly lower than those of China and Indonesia," the Energy Department said.

Moreover, it said that the Philippines makes up a minimal share of global emissions from coal despite having coal accounting for the largest share in the country's power mix.

Citing the European Commission-Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) on Greenhouse Gas Emissions of All World Countries, the DOE said China remained the largest greenhouse gas emitter globally, contributing 29.2% of total emissions.

Indonesia ranked seventh, with a 2.3% share of global emissions.

"In contrast, the Philippines accounted for just 0.5% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions," the DOE said.

"While the Philippines relies heavily on coal-fired power generation, the absolute amount of generation and corresponding emissions are minimal as compared to those of China and Indonesia," it said.

The Energy Department said that the Philippines cannot be "reasonably" compared to China and Indonesia, which "have different energy strategies and infrastructures adapted to their specific demographic and economic conditions."

Under the 2023-2050 Philippine Energy Plan (PEP), the DOE said the country's energy framework will be transformed towards cleaner, more resilient, and sustainable energy systems.

"This aligns with the global energy transition and involves strategic endeavors aimed at contributing to and advancing a low-carbon energy future," it said.

"With vast renewable energy resources, the country is embarking on various initiatives to further explore and accelerate the development and increase the utilization of clean and indigenous energy sources. The goal is to provide a 35% share in the power generation mix by 2030 and 50% by 2040," it added. — VDV, GMA Integrated News