by Reuters July 22, 2016
The Philippines’ coal
consumption could grow by more than 1 million tons annually until 2020 as it
expects to switch on more coal-fired power plants to support its economy, the
head of a local industry group said yesterday.
The Southeast Asian
country’s consumption of the fossil fuel reached 22 million tons last year, and
about 80 percent of that, or a record high 17.4 million tons, had to be
imported almost entirely from Indonesia, the world’s top seller of thermal coal
used in electricity generation.
Higher Philippine coal
demand could be good news for Indonesia though it might be insufficient to move
prices in an over-supplied market.
The Philippines relies
heavily on coal imports as domestic supply, mainly from mine operated by
Semirara Mining Corp , is not enough and the heat content is too low to be used
in most of the country’s power plants. Imports in 2014 totalled 15.2 million
tons, based on government data.
“We’re looking at an
increment of 1 million tons per year until 2020,” Arnulfo Robles, executive
director of the Philippine Chamber of Coal Mines, told reporters on the
sidelines of a power industry forum.
“That’s a very
conservative estimate,” he said. Robles welcomed Energy Secretary Alfonso
Cusi’s policy statement earlier this month retaining coal as a core part of the
country’s electricity generation mix while at the same time pushing
aggressively for clean energy.
Robles downplayed the
impact of an Indonesian ban on coal shipments to the Philippines, saying only
small vessels have so far been stopped from delivering coal. Supply to the
country’s power producers is delivered through large ships, he said.
Last month Indonesia
said a halt on coal shipments to the Philippines would remain in place because
of security concerns, after seven Indonesian sailors were kidnapped in the
southern Philippines.
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