It may be a bitter pill to swallow, but the power supply turmoil in the country could ignite resurgence of coal-fired power generation, according to one of the country’s top energy players.

And while the allure of green technologies would be highly irresistible, the fragility of the country’s major power grids across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao still portends an energy future that cannot thrive on renewable energy (RE) alone – at least not in the near future.

Despite the enforcement of a coal moratorium due to the existential threats of climate change, players in the energy sector are now sounding off the need for desperate solutions – primarily baseload capacity that can keep the lights on for homes and businesses round-the-clock.

In a briefing with the media, Meralco Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan said “we have to turn to the conventional power plants -- either powered by coal or by gas. All of these renewables are small and the dependable capacities... the real output is much lower than what the nameplate suggests.”

By design, the nameplate capacity of a power plant refers to the maximum output that the facility can produce; while dependable capacity which measures a power asset’s reliability delves with the plant’s maximum generation with all the encompassing limitations such as weather cycles, period or time of generation in a day as well as age of the fleets, among others.

For Meralco, in particular, its power investment arm has re-designed its 1,200-megawatt Atimonan power project to feed on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) but as the specter of power crisis hangs in the air, there seems to be a compelling case for the company to opt for coal-fired generation instead.

“Well, coal will always be the cheapest form of power in terms of conventional,” Pangilinan noted, while also qualifying that ‘the missing piece of the puzzle’ in the country’s energy security bid would be the kind of electricity supply that will put reliability in the forefront – not just for the benefit of the individual consumers, but also as a lifeline to the country’s economic growth targets.

Pangilinan is aware though that the revival of coal plant investments in the country could be met with a chorus of dissent, hence, government’s decision for a policy support will be crucial if it wants to save the country’s energy supply from total collapse.

When asked if it’s about time for the energy department to recall the coal moratorium policy, Pangilinan asserted “that’s beyond my purview, but if they would allow us, we’ll get into it.”

At this stage, the voice of compromise has been getting louder for coal as a necessarily evil to still bring the country out from the throes of recurring red and yellow alerts during the summer months.

Pangilinan stressed “we will get pilloried then criticized for turning to coal – but what does the country need? Who are we going to listen to  - the local press, you guys; or the Western media and certain shareholders?”

He added “there will always be a price to pay for the decision you take in this business, isn't it? And we're paying for that in terms of very, very thin reserves and emergencies happen like this.”

Amid the need for precarious balance on a tightrope, Pangilinan expounded “we really have to build more capacities in the system to be able to accommodate these extreme unexpected changes that could happen. Whether it be coal or gas, again, there's got to be some guidance given to us as to where we should turn.”