Baseload power still crucial for energy security – Aboitiz

MANILA, Philippines — To truly embrace a just energy transition, the Philippines must confront the reality that renewables alone cannot ensure energy security, according to Aboitiz Power Corp.

Speaking at the Coaltrans Asia 2024 in Indonesia, AboitizPower COO for thermal operated assets Ronaldo Ramos said the country’s energy shift should not only be forward-looking but also grounded in current realities.

“We all want a future that is powered by abundant renewable energy (RE). The cost of solar panels and battery storage technologies going down is encouraging, but we must be mindful of the present realities of the Philippines,” he said.

Under the Philippine Energy Plan, the government wants to increase the share of RE in the power generation mix to 50 percent by 2040, with renewables expected to dominate the power arena by 2050.

To make this RE expansion possible, the country needs to secure a total investment of up to P31 trillion by 2040.

With this ambitious shift to clean power, Ramos said there is a need to employ a careful, phased approach that caters to the country’s socio-economic needs while meeting the growing energy demand.

“We need reliable and reasonably priced baseload power to address the inherent intermittency of renewable energy and the geographical challenges of injecting these intermittent capacities into our present grid,” he explained.

Indonesian coordinating minister for maritime and investment affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan also said that baseload sources like coal still play an important role in Indonesia’s energy sector.

Pandjaitan added that coal helps stabilize the power grid as it fills in the gaps of more intermittent RE, pointing out that some developed countries have also revisited their respective energy mix.

“Even in Germany, coal-fired power plants still play key roles in balancing the electricity output of variable renewable energy such as wind and solar,” Pandjaitan said.

Pandjaitan also pointed out that a one-size-fits-all approach to energy transition is not viable, as strategies must be tailored to each country’s fiscal capacity and access to technology.