The Philippines seeks to increase coal-fired power plant production to reduce energy prices

The Philippine energy minister said on Tuesday that her country will seek to increase production power generation plants Which uses coal to cope with rising electricity costs amid the repercussions of the war in the Middle East on gas shipments.
And it depends Philippines With a population of 116 million and some of the highest energy costs in the region, it relies on coal to generate about 60% of its electricity.

Return to fossil fuels

Sharon Garin told reporters on Tuesday that with the rising cost of liquefied natural gas, the country will be forced to rely more “temporarily” on fossil fuels, which are among the biggest polluters of the environment.
She added, “We have spoken with power generation companies and coal-fired power plants to assess their ability to increase production,” noting that this “temporary” measure could take effect as early as April 1.

Electricity prices

“If we can implement this, we will at least be able to mitigate the impact of rising electricity prices related to the war in the Middle East,” Garin continued.
The minister added that while the Philippines is striving to maximize its use of domestic coal, it also reserves the right to increase its coal purchases from Indonesia, its main supplier.
Indonesia has assured the Philippines that it will not impose any restrictions on coal orders.
The Philippines, which suffers from frequent power outages, relies heavily on imported fuel to keep its power plants running.