Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines — Mindanao is pushing for a bold energy transition target: achieving 50% renewable energy (RE) in the total energy mix by 2030.
Under the Philippine Energy Plan (PEP 2023–2050), the country aims to achieve an RE share of 35% by 2030 and 50% by 2040. Mindanao is already close to this benchmark, with renewables making up nearly 40% of its generation mix.
Despite this head start, the island’s growing reliance on coal and diesel has raised power rates and weakened its clean energy advantage, especially in Northern Mindanao, where electricity costs are among the country’s highest.
Experts emphasized that raising the share of renewables is not just about climate responsibility, but also about economic security. Shifting away from fossil fuels is crucial for lowering electricity costs, stabilizing supply, and protecting consumers from the volatility of imported coal and oil.
“Energy transition is shifting away from fossil fuels, which are costly, polluting, and unsustainable. Coal is the biggest contributor of carbon that is deposited or gets trapped in our atmosphere, causing all these weather and climate maladies that we’re experiencing,” said Bencyrus Ellorin, ICSC’s Public Engagement and Advocacy Advisor for Mindanao.
He stressed that the Department of Energy’s 35% renewable energy target for Mindanao is well within reach, adding: “Thirty-five percent is a very doable target, and we can even reach 50% by 2030 if we move decisively.”
The call was made during the CASE Road to Renewables: Conversations on Energy Transition, held from September 23 to 26 at the N Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City. The Mindanao leg served as the third of the four-part roadshow series across the country, gathering government leaders, private sector partners, civil society, academe, and the media to build consensus and momentum for a just energy transition. The series had earlier convened stakeholders in Tacloban in July and Iloilo in August, with its final stop scheduled for Bohol in October.
At the center of the discussions was the rehabilitation of the Agus–Pulangi Hydroelectric Complex (APHC), Mindanao’s largest renewable power source with nearly 1,000 megawatts of installed capacity. Restoring and uprating the complex, alongside the integration of solar, hydro, and energy storage, would provide reliable baseload power while reducing exposure to volatile fossil fuel prices.
“Mindanao is already halfway to its RE target. What remains is matching it with storage, policy certainty, and the dispatch flexibility that a competitive energy market offers,” said Alberto Dalusung III, Energy Transition Advisor of ICSC.
“Renewables plus storage are not just an ideal—they’re the practical solution. When solar, hydro, and batteries operate together, we can cut fossil dependency and ease the burden on households and businesses alike,” added Engr. Cerael Donggay, President and CEO of Greenergy Solar PH.
The roadmap for Mindanao’s transition includes 100% electrification by 2028, 1,500 megawatts of new renewable capacity by 2030. It also outlines plans to hybridize island microgrids and link RE to the region’s agri-value chain.
Experts called for an immediate halt to new coal projects and a phased retirement of existing coal-fired power plants starting in 2026. They emphasized the importance of scaling up financing support for renewable energy and storage solutions to meet growing demand and ensure energy security.
The speakers underscored that reforms must keep pace with investments. They pointed to the strengthening of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in Mindanao, launched in 2023, as vital to ensuring transparent pricing and fair competition.
Additionally, streamlining permitting processes and expanding access to innovative financing instruments such as green bonds and blended finance will be essential to fast-tracking renewable energy deployment and achieving the 50:50 target by 2030.
About CASE for Southeast Asia
Clean, Affordable, and Secure Energy for Southeast Asia (CASE) is a regional project implemented in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam that aims to drive the Southeast Asian power sector towards decarbonization and increased climate mitigation ambition.
CASE in the Philippines is jointly implemented by GIZ Philippines, with the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities as the expert organization and the Philippines’ Department of Energy as the political partner.
CONTACT
Anton Onato, ICSC: anton@icsc.ngo, 0995 991 2230
PHOTOS
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