The constant rumble of machinery from nearby coal-fired power plants and the acrid, rotten egg-like stench have become an unwelcome part of life in Limay town in the Philippine province of Bataan.
Since the first plant went live in 2013, residents of the coastal municipality have been suffering the consequences: respiratory illnesses, displacement, and loss of livelihoods. Locals are stuck with expensive bills because the electricity generated in their town is sold to other provinces.
Despite ambitions for a clean energy transition, coal continues to be the most trusted source of power in the Philippines. It leaves Derek Cabe, an anti-fossil fuel campaigner from Bataan, often wondering: at what cost do communities like hers power a nation?
“Our community should not be collateral damage just so other regions can have electricity,” she said.
The Philippines, which is highly vulnerable to climate change, is struggling to reduce its reliance on coal, a major driver of global warming, despite ambitious renewable energy pledges.
At the COP28 summit in Dubai last year, the country signed a pledge to triple the world’s renewable energy capacity, aligning with its domestic goal of increasing renewables’ share in the electricity mix to 35% by 2030 and to 50% by 2040.
“Having that target, you could say the Philippines is one of the more ambitious countries in Southeast Asia, maybe after Vietnam,” said Dini Setyawati, senior electricity policy analyst for Southeast Asia at energy think tank Ember.
However, coal still fuels 57% of the Philippines’ energy needs. The country currently operates 28 coal-fired plants with a combined capacity of 9.88 gigawatts.
Meanwhile, the contribution of renewables to the country’s power mix remains at just 22%.
The government and industry groups argue that a diverse energy mix, including coal, is essential to ensure energy security and meet the growing demand for electricity as the country transitions to cleaner, domestic energy sources.
Renewables lag coal
While the Philippines has made efforts to expand its clean energy sector, coal continues to outpace renewables.
The share of electricity generated by coal rose to 61.9% in 2023 from 59.1% the previous year, according to a report released by Ember in July. This increase pushed the Philippines ahead of major coal users China, Poland, and even Indonesia, making it Southeast Asia’s most coal-reliant nation.
Reacting to the Ember report, the Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) said that while the country relies heavily on coal-fired power generation, its absolute generation and emissions are significantly lower compared to China and Indonesia.
Ember also noted the Philippines’ wind and solar potential “remains almost entirely untapped.” In 2023, wind and solar increased to 3.7 terawatt-hours (TWh) from less than 1TWh in 2015.
The energy department acknowledged the government still has a long way to go in ramping up renewables.
“But we do not waver on this ambition. We want renewables to become the dominant source of power in the Philippines,” said Marissa Cerezo, the director of DOE’s Renewable Energy Management Bureau.
“The primary consideration is to ensure the energy supply for our economic development, so we have to increase the share of renewables in a timely and strategic manner so that we don’t compromise the energy security of the country.”
The energy transition
To accelerate the energy transition, the Philippines is optimising incentives and streamlining the process to attract both domestic and international renewable energy investors.
These perks include a seven-year income tax holiday extendable to 21 years for new renewable energy project developers, duty-free importation of capital equipment, tax exemptions on carbon credits, and incentives for off-grid clean energy projects.
The DOE recently signed an agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to expedite offshore wind energy development. The government wants to bring the first offshore wind projects online by 2028.
In 2020, the Philippines imposed a moratorium on new coal power plants to help curb greenhouse gas emissions and transition to clean energy. The ban, however, does not cover existing coal plants or those already committed to expansion.
“Under the guise of expansion, [coal companies] bypass the moratorium,” Cabe said. For instance, the Petron Refinery Power Station in Limay was commissioned in 2013 with a capacity of 140 megawatts. It later underwent a 44 MW expansion in 2022.
In July, groups including energy consumers filed graft complaints against Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla with the Office of the Ombudsman, accusing him of allowing AboitizPower’s coal-fired power plant expansion in Cebu province despite a coal moratorium.
The DOE maintained the moratorium is not a total ban and that a project proponent can request a review of their project to confirm that it is not covered by the policy.
Nine coal-fired power projects, which had been approved before the 2020 moratorium and total 2,255 MW, are expected to boost the country’s main power grids by 2028, according to the DOE. Five of these projects are in Bataan.
Price for power
Since the construction of the first coal-fired power plant in Bataan in 2013, the province north of capital Manila has become a hub for coal-powered generation. While these plants contribute to the national power grid, they also bring a host of health and economic challenges to local communities.
Residents living near coal plants have reported increased respiratory illnesses such as asthma and pneumonia as well as skin diseases. Concerns about the potential link between coal pollution and cancer have also arisen, according to Cabe.
Existing coal plants were responsible for 630 air-pollution deaths in the Philippines in 2019, 68% of which occurred in Luzon, where Bataan is located, according to a 2020 study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). The study projected that Bataan could experience a 103% increase in premature deaths due to air pollution if the proposed coal projects were to be built.
The burning of coal releases harmful pollutants into the air such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter, which can exacerbate existing health conditions and lead to serious respiratory problems, especially among children and the elderly.
The construction of power plants and associated infrastructure has also led to the displacement of communities and the loss of traditional fishing grounds.
Cabe lamented that Bataan residents do not have access to affordable and reliable power as the electricity generated in the coal plants is sold to other provinces.
“That’s unfair to us, and we don’t even benefit except for minimal corporate social responsibility projects,” she said.
Path away from coal
The DOE is encouraging a “voluntary early and orderly decommissioning or repurposing of existing coal-fired power plants”.
Early retirement of coal plants by five years could prevent around 290 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, almost double the Philippines’ annual emissions, according to an analysis by TransitionZero.
Cebu Energy Development Corp coal plant, Quezon Power Plant, and SEM-Calaca Power Corporation coal plant were identified by TransitionZero as potential candidates for early retirement.
TransitionZero noted that without early retirement, the Philippines’ coal fleet is projected to retire between 2047 and 2051. Lotilla has said the government needs up to USD 500 billion of investments to retrofit or phase out fossil fuel plants.
The Philippines needs a clear phase-out plan, which details contract terms, land ownership, and early retirement options, stressed Ember’s Setyawati.
She added the country should reduce its reliance on gas as it risks becoming import-dependent if it continues to ramp up investments in liquefied natural gas, which she called an “expensive option”. Strengthening grid capacity and inter-island connections should also be a focus.
Cabe acknowledged their call for a coal-free Bataan will go on for a long time as the coal plants in the province are relatively new.
“We’re not giving up, even if shutting down coal plants seems wishful. But we definitely want the transition to cleaner energy,” Cabe said.
“Our call remains for a transition that does away with coal and other fossil fuels. Because when will transition happen if you keep building new ones?”
