The Philippines currently ranks a distant second in the region in combined solar and wind power generation, with 1,766 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity, compared with 12,379 MW in Vietnam.
the Philippines will have added 17,809 MW of solar capacity and 7,856 MW of wind power to emerge as the top green power producer in Southeast Asia, one of the world’s fastest-growing economic regions.
The rapid expansion in renewable energy supplies comes at a potentially critical time for the country’s energy sector.
Philippine power producers relied on coal for nearly 60% of their electricity generation in 2022 and have increased coal-fired power emissions by more than 40% since 2017 to fuel the country’s rapidly growing economy, which expanded by more than 7% in 2022.
A major driver behind the green power push is the looming depletion of the Malampaya gas field, which was by far the country’s largest source of gas but is expected to run dry within five years.
With imports of natural gas much more expensive than domestically supplied gas, and emissions from coal-fired power generation already at record highs, the government has unveiled an array of measures designed to spur growth in renewable energy supply capacity.
A key new policy shift that was announced in late 2022 has been the removal of stipulations that require energy assets to be owned by Filipinos.
Previously, those strict ownership rules limited foreign participation in the Philippines’ energy sector to a handful of oil and gas majors.
More clean power generation should also help the Philippines close the clean energy gap with the rest of Asia.
Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia are all also expected to rapidly increase renewable energy supply capacity over the coming years and may sporadically compete with the Philippines as green energy hot spots.