New coal power plant projects in the Philippines had been on steep decline since the issuance of a moratorium by the Department of Energy in 2020, according to advocacy group Global Energy Monitor. “Coal plant proposals in the Philippines have been rapidly shrinking since the 2020 moratorium on plants for which the permitting process had not already begun,” the monitor noted. It emphasized that capacities in pre-construction stage had been substantially down by 84-percent to 1.6-gigawatts in 2022; from a high of 10.1GW in 2019 or the period prior to the moratorium declaration. “The Philippines ranked sixth in the world for new capacity in 2022, commissioning the 1.3 GW Dinginin plant,” the report said, adding that “the operational capacity in the Philippines has doubled in the last decade, but annual capacity additions are starting to plateau.” At this stage, it specified that there are just two coal power plants advancing to commercial operations. These are the 600-megawatt Mariveles plant in Bataan; and the 135MW expansion of the Concepcion plant in Iloilo. The Global Energy Monitor further stated that even “the estimated completion dates for the remaining 1.6 GW in pre-construction have been steadily slipping in the DOE’s project listings, as financing for new projects vanishes and Philippine energy companies move to shed their existing coal assets.” On a global scale, however, the group indicated that coal plant developments is still thriving with 19,500MW capacity buildup last year; and China topped the list, along with 13 other countries adding coal fleets into their energy mix. “Total coal power capacity under development – including pre-construction and construction stages – has remained relatively level since 2019 after a significant collapse from highs in 2014,” the group stressed. Nevertheless, it was conveyed that the emerging trend still portends overall drop in coal plant installations; with key countries in Europe as well as the United States continuously pursuing retirements of their coal-fired power generating assets. “The US led coal retirements with 13.5 GW retired in 2022,” qualifying that such move is part of its national energy and climate goals,” according to the monitor. For Europe, which has  been distressed with the Russia-Ukraine war and the attendant gas crisis, it was pointed out that its coal plant retirements slowed down in 2022 – with just over 2.2GW of capacity taken down versus hefty retirements of 14.6GW in 2021.