Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 43 2020

AsiaElec COAL-FIRED GENERATION AsiaElec

Philippines announces

moratorium on new coal power

PHILIPPINES THE Philippines has imposed a moratorium on Cusi said that his government wanted to
the licensing of new coal power plants, with Phil- develop a “resilient and flexible” power mix,
ippines Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi saying especially given the need to boost post corona-
that renewables would now drive the country’s virus (COVID-19) economic recovery.
energy future. “While we have initially embraced a tech-
Cusi told Singapore International Energy nology-neutral policy, our periodic assessment
Week that the country would no longer build of our country’s energy requirements is paving
new greenfield coal-fired power plants. the way for innovative adaptations in our policy
“As the Philippine Department of Energy directions,” he said in a pre-recorded speech.
re-evaluates the appropriateness of our current “We are also pushing for the transition from
energy mix vis-a-vis our energy goals, I am opti- oil-based technology utilisation to cleaner
mistic that this would lead to more opportunities energy sources, which includes liquefied natural
for renewable energy to figure prominently in gas [LNG], to ensure more sustainable growth.”
our country’s energy future. Greenpeace campaigner Khevin Yu said that
“We are also pushing for the transition from the Department of Energy’s declaration was
fossil fuel-based technology utilisation to cleaner “only a small step.”
energy sources to ensure more sustainable “To ensure the country’s rapid transition to
growth for the country,” he said. renewable energy, the DOE must take this fur-
A move away from coal is a major change of ther by enacting a permanent moratorium that
policy for the country, where coal generated half includes not just coal but also gas projects in the
of all electricity in 2019. pipeline, and jump-start a phase-out plan for
There is also a 12-GW pipeline of new coal existing coal and other fossil fuel facilities,” Yu
projects at various stages of development, which said.
would double the country’s existing 12-GW coal Greenpeace recently said that the country
capacity. could achieve 50% renewables by 2030 solely by
The moratorium could stop around 8 GW using solar and wind.
of this 12 GW, according to data from Global The Philippines’ decision comes in the same
Energy Monitor analysed by think-tank E3G. week as Japan and South Korea confirmed that
The government has not yet revealed which they wanted to be carbon-neutral economies by
projects would be abandoned. 2050.™

COAL

SA’s Thabametsi coal project in severe doubt

SOUTH KOREA SOUTH Africa’s 630-MW Thabametsi coal- overseas coal power projects in the pipeline after
fired power plant faces an uncertain future after Vung Ang 2 in Vietnam.
its main contractor, South Korea’s Kepco, said South Korea’s recent overseas coal power pro-
that it would no longer invest in new overseas jects in Indonesia and Vietnam have met with
coal power ventures. widespread international criticism, especially
The doubts emerged for the project, which given the Moon administration’s drive with the
is being promoted by Kepco and Japan’s Korean Green New Deal, which aims for a “net-
Marubeni, as Kepco CEO Kim Jong-gap told zero emissions society”, earlier this year, and
the South Korean National Assembly that his more recently, the Korean legislature’s adoption
company planned to cancel or convert to LNG of a climate crisis declaration last month.
its two remaining overseas coal power projects All these comments from Seoul call
at Thabametsi and at Sual 2 (1,000-MW) in the into severe doubt Kepco’s commitment to
Philippines. The IPP project would be built in Thabametsi. The Thabametsi project was already
the Lephalale area, Limpopo Province, 300 km in doubt after South African financiers Nedbank,
north-west of Johannesburg. FirstRand and Standard Bank all withdrew from
His comments come after the South Korean the project in January 2019.
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Before this, Marubeni had also said in 2018
announced that Kepco currently had no more that it would not develop any new coal projects.

Week 43 28•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P11