RP still biggest geothermal energy producer in Asean

MANILA, Philippines - The International Energy Agency (IEA) said it expects the Philippines to remain the biggest producer of geothermal energy in the Southeast Asian region.

In a paper titled “Deploying Renewables in Southeast Asia” released during the Clean Energy Forum sponsored by the Asian Development Bank, IEA noted that geothermal electricity and heat are concentrated in Indonesia and the Philippines.

The IEA paper does not only acknowledge the potential growth areas in ASEAN regarding renewable energy but also investigates the barriers for scaling up market penetration of renewable energy technologies (RETs) in the electricity, heating and transport sectors in the ASEAN countries.

In addition to analyzing the implications of effective policies on RE market growth, it examines how to overcome economic and non-economic barries that slow investment in RE and offers policy recommendations to encourage effective and efficient exploitation of RE in Southeast Asia.

Despite this optimism, the study noted that there are still some barriers that need to be addressed by the ASEAN countries to be able to pursue growth in renewable energy development.

To achieve large-scale diffusion of renewables, the study said Southeast Asia, should reduce as much as possible non-economic barriers to the diffusion of RE.

Among the non-economic barriers, it said, include administrative hurdles, grid access issues, persistent fossil fuel subsidies and lack of information and training.

“Reducing these barries should a key priority for policy makers-and thus, a focus of policy design and implementation irrespective of the type of incentive scheme planned,” it said.

The IEA noted that there should also be collective effort among the ASEAN members to remove distortionary subsidies for fossil fuel consumption and production.

It said the ASEAN countries should also ensure that RE incentives do not shift a disproportionate share of additional financial burden to the poorest households.

There is a need, IEA said, to devise RE policies that are predictable and consistent with the overall energy policy framework.

Moreso, the study sees the importance of encouraging off-grid applications of RE to help advance electrification and socio-economic development objectives.

According to the IEA, ASEAN should also consider establishing platforms to exchange experience in developing and implementing renewable energy policy, and in reducing barriers to deployment of renewables.

“These could build on the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation or the APEC Energy Working Group,” it said.

The study noted the essence of establishing and evaluating harmonized market rules and incentives for renewables across the region, in step with the ongoing expansion of the ASEAN Power Grid.

Another important point in RE development, it said, is designing RE policies to complement climate change policies and to derive maximum benefit from climate change financing options.