“We discussed with Indonesia, making sure that the Philippines continues to have access to regular coal supply. Almost 80 percent of our coal supply, for our coal-fired power plants and for non-power uses, is sourced abroad,” Lotilla said.
“It reached a point that they were running out of supply for their domestic coal-fired power plants, and that’s why they had to impose a moratorium,” he said. “In other words for a BIMP EAGA member like the Philippines that is importing coal from Indonesia, we can have arrangements whenever there are constraints,” he said.
Lotilla said the initiative would complement efforts towards realizing the ASEAN Power Grid under ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint by expanding opportunities for multilateral power trading beyond neighboring borders.