Philippines starts decommissiong of coal-fired power plants

The phase-out of coal-fired plants will allow transition to 50% of renewable energy by 2040.

The Philippines’ Department of Energy (DOE) has started the process of retiring or repurposing coal-fired power plants as part of the country’s energy transition programme.

With the decommissioning of coal-fired power plants, the country will be able to boost the transition to renewable energy to a 50% share by 2040.

The energy sector of the Philippines is unique among other countries in Southeast Asia with its market-driven and privately owned market, positioning it to be more competitive for energy players and making it less involved to subsidise the market.

In turn, DOE has based the retirement of coal-fired power plants and the shift to green energy on the market’s performance.

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“Unlike other countries which are energy-source rich and use export revenues to subsidize their power sector, the Philippines only relies on cross-subsidy to provide support to its marginalized consumers, as well as for renewable energy incentives,” a statement by the DOE said.

Currently, the agency has overseen several successes in energy transition with its managed and warranted coal phasedown, including one from ACEN Corporation and the early retirement of its 246 MW SLTEC coal plant. The decommissioning is the very first market-based energy transition mechanism.