In a tropical country like the Philippines, it is a waste if we cannot fully utilize the benefits of the sun, including in supplying our energy needs.
It’s a welcome development that more Filipinos are now seeing the light on the need for more renewables. In a Pulse Asia Survey conducted on September last year, 85 percent of Filipinos agreed on the importance of increasing the use of renewable energy (RE) sources such as solar, wind, and hydropower.
The energy supply sector is the highest source of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, about 35 percent, according to the United Nations. Shifting to renewable energy sources is one way to significantly reduce these emissions and our overall dependence on fossil fuels.
In fact, the Philippine government is pushing for more renewables, with a target of having 35 percent renewables in the country’s energy mix by 2030, and further to 50 percent by 2040.
Based on the latest report from the Department of Energy (DOE), renewables make up 22 percent of the Philippines’ energy mix.
As of 2022 data from the DOE, the renewable energy share in the power mix is at 29.24 percent, or 8,264 megawatts (MW) out of a total of 28,258 MW installed on grid capacity. The RE mix is composed of 1,952 MW from geothermal, 3,745 MW from hydro, 611 MW from biomass, 427 MW from wind, and 1,530 MW from solar.