Dalusung, A. & Manansala, J. (September 2021). Who is profiting from the power outages? Business Mirror.
This piece explains how despite extended outages experienced by coal power plants and lower demand due to the pandemic, many power companies with coal portfolios managed to perform extremely well. It provides empirical evidence that coal power plants are intermittent and that variable renewables are not.
Ahmed, S., Dalusung, A., etc. (March 2021). Analysing Energy Transition Risks in the Philippine Power Sector. Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), and Carbon Tracker Initiative (CTI).
This report analyzes the energy transition risk for power generation in the Philippines. It underscores the fiduciary obligations of corporate directors amidst new government regulations on sustainability, current climate challenges, changes in power spot market operations, and green investment initiatives now made available for banks and financial institutions.
Ahmed, S. (December 2020). Renewables Are a More Affordable, Reliable and Resilient Solution
for Small Island and Isolated Power Grids. Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
This report highlights the potential for renewable energy to power small island and isolated power grids and save the Philippines up to P13.5 billion per year, and electric cooperatives an additional P1.4 to P1.7 billion over the next decade.
Ahmed, S. (June 2020). Philippines Power Sector Can Reach Resilience by 2021. IEEFA.
This report highlights that the Philippines could come out COVID-19 with cheaper electricity prices and a more competitive and reliable power sector if it swapped its reliance on expensive coal power for cheaper renewables and structured a transition plan using auctions. It reiterates that the country’s focus on baseload coal and reliance on imported fuel have contributed to price increases for consumers that can only be tempered if force majeure is invoked.
Ahmed, S. (March 2019). The Philippine Energy Transition: Building a Robust Power Market to Attract Investment, Reduce Prices, Improve Efficiency and Reliability. IEEFA.
This report delves into the country’s lack of ability to attract large investments in renewables. It attributes it to purchase agreements that protect fossil fuel interests in imported coal and diesel. To encourage a transition to less costly and cleaner energy generation, the report recommends removing fossil fuel subsidies, introducing transparent and competitive auctions for a variety of renewables producers, and investing in infrastructure, such as ancillary storage services and other grid supports.
Posadas, D. & Maniego, P. (13 February 2012). Coal vs renewable energy from a cost perspective. Inquirer.
This piece tackles what’s better for the country: A fixed-cost spread over time or a variable cost that seems cheap but, in reality, contains all sorts of hidden costs?
