Philippines eyes ‘temporary’ coal push to counter energy turmoil

The “temporary measure” could start as early as April 1. Read more at straitstimes.com.

MANILA - The Philippines will try to boost the output of its coal-fired power plants to keep electricity costs down as the Middle East war wreaks havoc with gas shipments, its energy secretary said on March 24.

The archipelago nation of 116 million, which has some of the region’s highest energy costs, relies on coal for about 60 per cent of its electricity generation.

Ms Sharon Garin told reporters on March 24 that with the cost of LNG (liquified natural gas) soaring, the country would “temporarily” be forced to lean even more heavily on the carbon-belching fossil fuel.

While hoping to “maximise” the use of local coal, the Philippines was also keeping the option of upping its purchases of coal from top supplier Indonesia, the energy secretary said.

“We talked to the generation companies, the coal-powered plants, to check how much they can increase their generation,” Ms Garin said, calling it a “temporary measure” that could start as early as April 1.

“If we are successful in implementing this, at least we can decrease the electricity rate hikes because of the conflict in the Middle East,” she said.