Many coal power projects exempt from ban—DOE

By Lenie Lectura – December 5, 2024
from Business Mirror

A staggering 20,0000 megawatts (MW) of power generation capacity are apparently not covered by the moratorium on new coal power facilities, a senior official of the Department of Energy (DOE) said.

However, only 4,000 to 6,000 MW are likely to be developed into coal-fired power plants.

“Our coal that is not covered by the moratorium is 20 gigawatts (GW). There are many of them, but I think only 4 to 6 gigawatts will be pursued. Some are having difficulty seeking loans from bank for coal projects while others have very deep pockets,” said DOE Undersecretary Rowena Guevara in an interview during BusinessMirror’s Envoys & Expats Night of Appreciation held last week. One GW is equivalent to 1,000MW.

Guevara affirmed that among those that are pursuing their coal power projects are the 1,200MW ultra-super critical coal-fired power plant in Quezon, to be carried out by Atimonan One Energy Inc. (A1E), and Toledo Power Corp.’s 80 MW.

Both are under Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen), the power generation arm of the Manila Electric Co. MGen President Emmanuel Rubio earlier said the company awaits the issuance of a certificates of exception from the coal ban by the DOE.

Several proponents of coal-fired power projects have requested the DOE’s confirmation on non-coverage.

“Following a thorough review and verification by the Power Bureau, the DOE issues at the request of a project proponent a certification that a project is not covered by the moratorium,” the agency had said.

The DOE said the coal moratorium policy does not cover the following:

• existing and operational coal-fired power generation facilities;
• any coal-fired power projects considered committed power projects;
• existing power plant complexes that already have firm expansion plans and existing land site provisions;
• indicative power projects with substantial accomplishments, particularly with signed and notarized land acquisition or lease agreements for the projects, and with approved permits or resolutions from local government units and the Regional Development Council where the power plants will be located.

As of May 2024, there are 3 coal-fired power plants (CFPPs) currently operating in the country with a total capacity of 12,556MW or equivalent to 43.9 percent of the total installed generating capacity. Luzon has 8,942 MW of CFPPs while Visayas and Mindanao have 1,346 MW and 2,268 MW CFPPs, respectively.

Coal still accounts for a chunk of the country’s power generation mix.