Philippine power sector remains addicted to coal

The importation and local production of coal in the Philippines is on the rise.

Data from the Department of Energy (DoE) shows that the power sector remains the largest end-user of coal needed for generating electricity. And demand for coal is rising in step with the Philippines’ economic growth.

Total coal imports came to 11 million Metric Tons in 2011, of which. 10.9 million MT were sourced from Indonesia and 68,169MT were from Vietnam. Indigenous coal production reached 7.6 million MT last year.

Total coal consumption in 2011 was estimated at 14.2 million MT. About 75% of this total or 10.6 million MT was eaten up by the power sector. Other major end users were the cement industry with 3.1 million MT and industrial and direct process firms that used 550,838 MT.