Philippines Urged To Shift To Renewable Energy As Qatar LNG Attacks Drive Power Prices Higher

2026-03-31 02:34:39

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) [Editor's Note: Follow Khaleej Times live blog amid US-Israel-Iran war for the latest regional developments.]

Local experts are urging Philippine authorities to seriously shift to renewable energy as a long-term solution to the country's energy vulnerabilities as the war in the Middle East continues.

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With new parties entering the West Asia fray and threatening to further disrupt supplies to fuel-hungry countries like the Philippines, the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) argued that renewable energy such as geothermal and hydropower must play bigger roles in local power generation.

In a press briefing, ICSC said that even if the Philippine sources its liquefied natural gas (LNG) requirements from other countries such as Australia and Indonesia, severe damages to Qatar's Ras Laffan LNG facility are constricting supply and driving prices higher.

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The Philippines began importing LNG in 2023 to augment depleting local production from its Malampaya gas field. In 2024, the country imported approximately 1.185 million metric tons (1,185,000,000 Kg) of LNG, valued at roughly $767.7 million (Dh2.8 billion).

“As a relatively new LNG importer, the Philippines does not influence prices and instead follows global market trends, leaving it exposed to external factors beyond its control,” ICSC noted.

It is only getting worse, the experts added, as Iran's attack on Qatar on March 19 alone trigged an immediate 10 per cent surge in the Japan-Korea Marker (JKM), a key LNG spot price benchmark in Asia.

Combined with ongoing disruptions to shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, prices have now risen by 108 per cent from pre-conflict levels.

“This loss of Qatari supply means countries will now have to compete for the remaining gas, pushing [LNG] prices even higher,” the group underscored.

This also translates into tighter LNG supply globally and long-term price increases, as the attacks wiped out 17 per cent of Qatar's LNG capacity, and repairs can take up to five years.

For the Philippines, these global price movements directly lead to higher electricity costs. For a country that depends on imported fuel, this prolonged supply gap will likely mean sustained higher prices and intensified competition for spot cargoes, further straining its energy security.

A modest 21 to 22 per cent of the Philippines' total electricity generation is from renewable energy, 2025 data suggest.

While the country has significant geothermal and hydropower resources, it still relies on fossil fuels for nearly 79 per cent of its power supply, mostly coal.

In addition to geothermal and hydropower, the Philippines is ideal for other renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, pumped storage hydro, and battery energy storage systems that could be developed to reduce dependence on imported fuels.

The government promised to increase the renewable energy share to 35 per cent by 2030.