Mindanao on track to build more clean energy sources

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines — Mindanao is on track to achieve a balance between renewable energy (RE) and “dirty” and expensive fossil fuels—mostly coal—by 2030, with the Department of Energy (DOE) announcing the potential delivery of at least 1,000 megawatts (MW) of clean energy within the next three years.

Speaking during the 4th Mindanao Clean Energy Forum here last week, Energy Assistant Secretary Sabine Marie Romero acknowledged Mindanao’s “strong renewable energy foundation,” citing the large combined capacity of state-owned hydroelectric power plants along the Agus and Pulangi rivers, which generate about 1,000 MW.

“Mindanao is where RE can thrive,” Romero said, noting that the region can lead the way for a clean energy future for the country.

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Under the country’s nationally determined contribution to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, Mindanao had set a target of making RE constitute half of the region’s energy mix by 2030, at par with fossil fuel, mainly coal.

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READ: Mindanao can cut ‘dirty’ fuel use by 50% by 2030 – green groups

The Mindanao target is more ambitious than the national goal of getting RE at 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.

According to a study by the multistakeholder Mindanao Renewable Energy Acceleration and Coordination Hub, the region requires 1,400 MW of additional installed RE capacities to achieve the 50:50 goal by 2030.

READ: RE advocates seek solutions to Mindanao’s fossil fuel dependence

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Romero noted that as of July this year, the DOE had recorded 25 committed RE projects that have a total potential capacity of 1,026 MW, expected to be delivered between 2026 and 2029. Of these, the bulk—or some 675.96 MW—are solar capacities.

She said the DOE forecast RE to reach 56 percent of Mindanao’s energy mix by 2030 “if all committed and green energy auction projects come online as scheduled.”

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Attracting investments

Based on DOE data, RE share in Mindanao’s total installed energy capacity is 32.5 percent in 2025, while 35 percent in gross power generation, 20 percent coming from hydro.

According to Romero, the agency had put in place policies and programs to further attract RE investments in the country, such as easing foreign ownership limit, preferential dispatch of all RE resources in the wholesale electricity spot market, and coming up with a framework for the development of offshore wind resources.

Throughout the country, the DOE set a 10-year green energy auction plan that will offer a cumulative total of 25 gigawatts (GW) of RE capacities that will deliver power from 2027 to 2035.

For Mindanao, Romero cited the 20 GW integrated renewable energy and energy storage system, 20 MW roof-mounted solar, and 175 MW run-of-river hydro, which will be offered in upcoming green energy auctions.

She emphasized that there is a need to ensure that the energy is “reliable, affordable and sustainable” so that it can power Mindanao’s industrialization, agribusiness expansion, urbanization and the rise of micro, small and medium enterprises.

“Every megawatt we build must answer” to the needs of the people, she said, adding the need for transmission and distribution assets in the region to be ready to handle the increased generation capacity.

Cheap option

Ben Cyrus Ellorin, project director of Consumers for Renewable Energy Action in Mindanao, welcomed the “DOE buy-in” of the push to accelerate the building of RE capacities in Mindanao and throughout the country.

Ellorin noted that Mindanao became dependent on coal-fed capacities in 2016, when the aging Agus and Pulangi plants can no longer cater to the region’s expanding needs, prompting distribution utilities to forge longtime supply contracts with coal-fired plants that sidelined RE capacities.

The shift to RE acquired a backdrop of urgency as fossil fuel prices had steadily climbed, especially due to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, raising electricity rates in the region, he added.

“Renewable energy is the cheapest option today,” said energy planner Alberto Dalusung III, energy transition adviser of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities.

Dalusung said that moving forward, energy planning in the region must be sensitive to the needs of industries that support massive job creation, citing, for one, the planned expansion of a steel-making plant in Davao.

Assistant Secretary Romeo Montenegro, Mindanao Development Authority deputy executive director, emphasized the need for reliable and affordable energy to further drive Mindanao’s “phenomenal growth,” inviting RE investors to locate to the island to help sustain its development.

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Dalusung noted that several path-breaking efforts for RE were started in Mindanao, such as the first solar power farm and a hydropower plant designed to run in tandem with a solar capacity, all in Misamis Oriental, and a biomass power facility in Maguindanao del Norte. /cb