MANILA (XINHUA) – The Philippine Department of Energy yesterday asked Indonesia to lift its ban on coal export, saying the move is “detrimental” to coal-dependent countries like the Philippines.
Indonesia announced the ban for the entire month of January 2022 to avert a looming power crisis in the country. In a statement, Philippine Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi stressed the “healthy economic cooperation between the Philippines and Indonesia”, saying that Indonesia’s “recent policy will be detrimental to economies that rely on coal-fired power generation systems like the Philippines”.
According to Cusi, the Philippines sourced 2.3 million metric tonnes monthly from Indonesia to fuel the country’s coal-fired power plants in 2021.
“Power generated from coal comprises about 60 per cent of the country’s power demand,”
Cusi said.
