The Philippine government has partnered with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in a bid to acquire all coal-fired power plants in Mindanao, to help further mitigate the harm they inflict on the environment.
In a virtual roundtable briefing hosted by the British Embassy on Wednesday, Department of Finance Asst. Secretary Paola Alvarez, who read the speech of Finance Secretary Carlos Domiguez III, said the government intends to repurpose the coal-fired power plants to increase the region’s renewable energy.
“This proposal aims to shift most of Mindanao’s energy requirements to hydropower, which will eventually spur more investments from companies seeking to expand their operations in areas powered by clean energy,” she said.
Alvarez said the government now works with the ADB in pilot-testing the coal replacement fund, as part of the plan.
“And right now, we are in talks and in cooperation with the Department of Energy on how we could actually do feasibility studies on the business model of how we can acquire coal-fired power plants,” she said.
The plan, she explained, aims to “create an environment that is conducive to sustainable investments.”
“We’re trying to harmonize how capital markets can actually move towards renewable energy or sustainable projects,” she added.
Alvarez said the Department of Energy believes “the Philippines needs to balance its economic stability in terms of energy security while at the same time that we transition towards low-carbon energy development.”
She said DOF also coordinates with the World Bank (WB) in coming up with an instrument on how to price carbon emissions, as has successfully been done by other countries.