Instead of weaning itself away from coal, the Philippines has become even more dependent on it, and the Consunjis, San Miguel Corp. (SMC), Indonesia and other quarrying nations are profiting immensely from this situation.
A report from Agence France-Presse (AFP) on July 2, 2024 revealed that the Philippines generated 61.9% of its electricity from coal in 2023, beating coal-dependent Indonesia by a tad as 61.8% of its electricity in the same year was produced by coal-fired power plants. Ember, a London-based climate and energy think-tank said the results of the study were disappointing and noted that coal use in the Philippines soared 3%, an indication that energy generation from renewables was retreating.
Both the Philippines and Indonesia are coal-quarrying nations. Indonesia has the largest economy in Southeast Asia and is the world’s 4th most populous nation. In the case of the Philippines, the coal it produces from Semirara Island is of poor quality that it has to import coal from Indonesia and Australia to feed its hungry coal-fed power generating plants. The Consunji family owns the Semirara quarry and is also into power generation.
Ember noted that the thirst for coal in the Philippines shows that the country is lagging behind in electricity production through renewables like solar and wind despite the boast of Leandro Leviste, son of Sen. Loren Legarda, that more solar farms are a-building. The wind farms in Jala-Jala, Rizal and in Ilocos Norte produce modest amounts of energy and even with the addition of solar farms in Batangas and Laguna de Bay would not reduce the dependence on coal.
Curiously, the more intense use of coal was higher than the actual increase in power demand. Translated into more digestible terms, renewables are taking a beating while Spain, Sweden and Norway, the United Kingdom and other nations have increased their consumption of renewables, reducing substantially their dependence on oil and gas. Ember revealed that bioenergy and gas have not produced the amount of energy expected of them.
Compared with their regional counterparts, the Philippines and Indonesia are laggards. Other Southeast Asian countries account, on the average, 4.4% of electricity generation from renewables. It is just 3.2% for the Philippines and a pitiful 0.3% for Indonesia.
While Indonesia generates renewable energy from hydropower, the share fell 10% last year as drought zapped the country. “Overall, Indonesia and the Philippines are the two most coal-dependent countries in Southeast Asia and their reliance on coal is growing fast,” Ember warned.
In 2023, Indonesia also became the world’s fifth-largest coal power generator, overtaking South Korea for the first time, the group disclosed. Despite being clearly unattainable, the Philippines still aims to make renewable energy account for 35% of its power generation by 2030. Indonesia has committed itself to reaching 44% power generation by renewables in the same year. To reach net zero by mid-century, the International Energy Agency (IEA), all coal generation that does not capture emissions must end by 2040.
