Raising generation kWh per capita, not renewables

Last week, on May 15, I attended the press conference of the Department of Energy (DoE) presided by Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla.

- BIENVENIDO S. OPLAS, JR.

While the good secretary discussed many things, from EPIRA to energy mix and diversification, gas, hydrogen, nuclear and renewable energy (RE), and universal charge for missionary electrification (UC-ME), I noticed that two topics kept popping up — the targeted generation mix towards more RE, and electricity prices.

During the question-and-answer section, I suggested that instead of targeting X percent of RE by 2050 or so, we should target to raise our low power generation, from 1,000+ kilowatt hours (kWh) per capita in 2023 to 1,500, then 2,000 kWh per capita, and so on.

I computed the total power generation per capita and that generated by coal in 2023. While the Philippines only produced 1,054 kWh per capita, Indonesia produced 1,264 kWh, Vietnam produced 2,756 kWh, Malaysia produced 5,674 kWh, China produced 6,700 kWh, and Taiwan produced 12,109 kWh per capita (see Table 1).

That means we should be agnostic when it comes to the source of energy — we should just increase generation from all sources and technology every year, and thus stop the yellow-red alerts (if not actual blackouts) that occur yearly, especially in the provinces.