Some 8,977.1 megawatts (MW) of capacity are to be added by power plants committed for construction as of end-2020, data from the Department of Energy (DOE) showed.
That is almost 58 percent higher than the 5,691.1 MW additional capacity to be provided by power plants committed in 2019.
The DOE considers power plants as committed once they secure power supply agreements, financial close, system impact study and other permits from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Energy Regulatory Commission.
The number only reflects capacity from traditional power plants and excludes committed battery energy storage facilities.
Bulk of the committed capacity as of end-2020 equivalent to 8,343.7 MW are located in Luzon or almost 93 percent of all planned projects nationwide.
On a nationwide basis, coal still has the highest share in committed projects at 3,836 MW followed by natural gas fired power plants with 3,500 MW, solar with 408.57 MW, oil-based power plants with 311.04 MW and wind with 132 MW.
Meanwhile, committed geothermal, hydroelectric and biomass power projects’ capacity are minimal at 90 MW, 52.9 MW and 13.2 MW, respectively.
Even with coal still the country’s main power source, the DOE is not keen on implementing a carbon tax as this will only cause additional burden to consumers since it may further increase power rates and make the Philippines more uncompetitive.
Cusi had said recently introduced policies such as the green energy option program, the moratorium on greenfield coal-fired power plants as well as the allowing of 100 percent foreign ownership on geothermal power projects will trigger the country’s shift for cleaner power sources without much effect on power rates.
As of end-2020, the country had a total installed on-grid capacity of 25,663 MW, 7,599 MW of which are from RE sources comprised of hydro, geothermal, wind, biomass and solar as coal remained the top power source with a share of 10,417 MW.
