AboitizPower: Renewables need baseload for reliability

RENEWABLE ENERGY should be integrated with reliable baseload power to address its intermittency and ensure the country’s power needs are met during the energy transition, according to an official from Aboitiz Power Corp. (AboitizPower).

“We need reliable and reasonably priced baseload power to address the inherent intermittency of renewable energy and the geographical challenges of injecting these intermittent capacities to our present grid,” Ronaldo Ramos, AboitizPower’s chief operating officer for thermal operated assets, said during the Coaltrans Asia 2024 in Bali, Indonesia.

Citing data from the Philippine Energy Plan, the company said that the country needs around $550.2 billion to reach the goal of increasing the share of renewable energy in the power mix to 50% by 2040.

“We all want a future that is powered by abundant renewable energy. The costs of solar panels and battery storage technologies going down are encouraging,” Mr. Ramos said. “But we must be mindful of the present realities of the Philippines.”

AboitizPower said that “a careful and phased approach” is needed for a just energy transition that accounts for “the current realities of the socio-economic needs” of the country.

The company said that coal, as a baseload energy source, can “fill in the gaps of more intermittent renewable energy,” stabilizing the power grid.

AboitizPower is a leading player in the Philippine power industry, involved in electricity generation and distribution, with a diverse portfolio of renewable and non-renewable power plants. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera