The Senate should look into the government’s energy transition plan following last year’s move of the Department of Energy (DOE) to ban new coal power plants, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said on  Wednesday, February 17.

Government belives the ban will  accelerate the country’s shift to cleaner energy. 

In filing Senate Resolution No. 649, Gatchalian said it is important to ascertain when the moratorium on coal will last as it is also necessary for the Philippines to meet its commitments under the Paris Agreement which widely focuses on reducing greenhouse gases emissions (GHG) through the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).

NDCs embody efforts to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The Philippines aims to reduce the country’s GHG by 70 percent by 2030.

“Until when will the coal moratorium be? How can other technologies fill in the gap left by coal and how do we ensure that power cost will not increase while ensuring continuous supply?” asked Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy.

At this point, the senator said it is uncertain if the moratorium issued by the DOE is in the context of a large energy transition plan. He said it is also unclear what the DOE’s higher targets are for Renewable Energy (RE) and alternative fuels within a specific timeframe.

“Investing in renewable energy is the win-win solution for sustained economic growth in the country,” Gatchalian said.

“We can have cleaner air at a much cheaper price and RE investments can bring in lots of job opportunities especially since many of ourkababayanslost their jobs during the pandemic,” he pointed out.

The senator noted that as of 2019, the power generator sector has the largest share in total GHG emissions at 53.2 percent followed by the transport sector at 27.3 percent.

Likewise, the percentage of coal in the power generation mix increased to 54.59 percent in 2019 from 26.6 percent in 2009 while Res share in the power generation mix decreased to 20.79 percent in 2019 from 32.6 percent in 2009.

The lawmaker pointed out a study by Fitch Solutions, an American credit rating agency, showed that the Philippines is expected to continue its dependence on coal in the coming years with coal accounting for 59 percent of the country’s energy mix by 2029.

“ Thus, there’s a need to look inot the country’s energy transition plan, or lack thereof, in aid of legislation, with the end view of developing and ensuring an equitable, secure and sustainable energy transition,” Gatchalian stressed