Toward More Gas Power Development in the Phl

The fastest-growing major economies in the world—those in the top 50 largest GDP size—are mostly Asians.

- Bienvenido S. Oplas Jr.

For instance, the average GDP growth from 2015-2023 were as follows: Vietnam, six percent; China and India, 5.8 percent; Turkey, five percent; Philippines, 4.7 percent; Egypt, 4.6 percent; Indonesia, 4.1 percent; Malaysia, 3.9 percent; and Poland, 3.7 percent.

One thing I notice about these countries is that they are mostly small users of natural gas. Their gas/total generation ratio in 2023 was as follows: Vietnam, 9.5 percent; China, 3.1 percent; India, 2.7 percent; Indonesia, 17.4 percent; Philippines, 14.4 percent; Turkey, 21.2 percent; and Poland, 9.8 percent. They are high coal users.

Compare that with these countries which have high gas/total generation ratio and low average growth over the same period. The respective numbers are as follows: Mexico, 57.7 percent and 1.4 percent; Argentina, 51.8 percent and 0.3 percent; Italy, 44.3 percent and 1.2 percent; Russia, 44.8 percent and 1.2 percent; US, 43.1 percent and 2.5 percent; Netherlands, 37.5 percent and 2.2 percent; UK, 34.3 percent and 1.5 percent; and Japan, 31.7 percent and 0.6 percent.