Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines — Mindanao is pushing for a bold energy transition target: achieving 50 percent renewable energy in the total energy mix by 2030.
Under the Philippine Energy Plan 2023–2050, the country aims to achieve a renewable energy share of 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.
Mindanao is already close to this benchmark with renewables making up nearly 40 percent of its generation mix.
Despite this headstart, 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.
ICSC is the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), an international non-government group advancing fair climate policy and low carbon, climate-resilient development. Based in the Philippines, it is engaged with the wider international climate and energy policy arena, particularly in Asia.
Ellorin stressed that the Department of Energy’s 35 percent 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.
Mindanao pushes for 50:50 energy mix by 2030, advocates say renewables, storage key to lowering prices and stabilizing supply
