The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) said they will intensify the push for renewable energy projects in order to match the rise of fossil fuels into their energy mix.
Romeo Montenegro, director for Investment Promotions and Public Affairs of the Mindanao Development Authority said the energy mix currently at 60-40 in favor of RE will see a reversal of 70-30 relying mostly on fossil fuels by 2018.
Mindanao’s power monitoring committee, a One-Stop Facilitation and Monitoring Center supported by USAID’s Climate Change and Clean Energy (CEnergy) Project, is currently monitoring 284 RE ventures.
The projects are expected to produce a generation capacity of 3, 773 MW.
“We want to purposively address a ‘business as usual’ scenario where majority of Mindanao’s energy sources by 2030 will come from mostly fossil technology, and now is the time to trigger rapid RE deployment,” Montenegro said.
Latest data from the Department of Energy (DOE) state that newly developed coal plants will give Mindanao a capacity of 1,800 megawatts (MW) in two years. Aboitiz Group’s Therma South Inc. has been operating its 300-MW coal plant since late 2015.
MindDA said the island is rich with hydropower sources, and may help them achieve their target of a reliable and sustainable power source.
The DOE adopted the system called Energy Virtual One Shared System (EVOSS) in Visayas and Luzon aimed to help promote RE development across the Philippines.
The program is set to be showcased as a ‘best practice’ at the USAID-organized Asia Low Emissions Development Strategies (LEDS) Forum later this month.
The island aims to achieve reliable, sustainable, and reasonable power, in support of the country’s submission of its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the United Nations (UN) last year, with the goal to cut 70 percent of its carbon emissions by 2030.
