Filipino fishermen worry that a solar farm on the lake will hurt their income

MANILA, Philippines —

For the past four decades, Alejandro Alcones has been a fishing enthusiast, but now he fears his small boat could be replaced by a floating solar farm on the Philippines’ largest lake.

Alcones is part of a group of fishermen who are opposing a government plan to put solar panels atop Laguna de Bay, one of the country’s largest sources of freshwater fish. The group is seeking renewable energy sources to meet growing electricity demands.

“Laguna Lake provides a life and income for fishermen like us who didn’t finish school. It also gives many displaced workers an alternative way to earn money by fishing,” said Alcones, a 55-year-old father of two who lives near the lake.

The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands struggling with limited land resources, aims to generate half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2040, down from just one-fifth by 2021.

Unlike traditional land-based solar farms, floating photovoltaics – solar panels installed on reservoirs, ponds and coastal waters – are an attractive alternative for countries dependent on fossil fuels, with limited land resources and high population density.

Last year, Indonesia opened the largest floating solar power plant on a man-made reservoir in Southeast Asia.

But according to a January report by the Responsible Energy Initiative, a group of nongovernmental organizations working to promote “ecologically safe and socially just” renewable energy, the innovative projects could compete with those dependent on fishing and agriculture.

The report describes the Laguna Lake project as a “test bed” for the technology and the world’s first large-scale photovoltaic installation on a natural lake.

Potential threats

The project, which covers 91,000 hectares southeast of Manila, will house three floating solar power plants on 2,000 hectares. By 2026, they will generate about 2 gigawatts of electricity to power the Laguna region and the capital.

Contracts have already been awarded to three companies, which must still pass an environmental impact assessment before construction can begin.

According to the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), the state agency responsible for the protection, development and sustainable development of the area, Alcones is one of 13,000 people whose livelihoods depend on the lake.

The LLDA meets regularly with fishermen groups to listen to their concerns, and the government “does not want to displace them as much as possible” once the solar project gets underway, said Mhai Dizon, LLDA renewable energy project coordinator.

Meanwhile, the largest fishermen’s association in the Philippines, the National Federation of Small-Scale Fishermen’s Organizations of the Philippines, or Pamalakaya for short, accused the LLDA of consulting only with local government officials and small groups of fishermen from Laguna.

At Pamalakaya’s request, a meeting was held in July with LLDA representatives in Manila, during which concerns were raised that the Laguna solar project could negatively impact more than 8,000 fishermen, including 2,000 people working in aquaculture, said Ronnel Arambulo, Pamalakaya vice chairman.

“We are concerned that floating solar farms will further reduce our fishing grounds, which have already been reduced by previous development projects,” Arambulo told the Thomson Reuters Foundation ahead of the meeting, which was closed to the press.

Pamalakaya fishermen fear the project will reduce catches and pose a threat to the community if they are untied during strong typhoons and rising water levels, Arambulo said. The panels could also obstruct boat passage and damage docks, he said.

Solar panels covering the water’s surface are still being tested and raise “numerous questions” about the potential long-term effects on the environment and local communities, according to a report by the Responsible Energy Initiative.

Potential threats include coastal soil erosion, increased sedimentation and siltation, disruption of photosynthesis and reduced catches due to changes in the ecosystem.

“Depending on the specific location and scale, floating solar panels could limit access to fishing grounds for independent fishermen,” said Marvin Lagonera, Forum for the Future’s energy transition strategist for Southeast Asia.

He said a “rights-based approach” was essential in the clean energy transition.

“This involves building meaningful connections with the communities affected,” including civil society, environmental groups and local communities, he added.

The race for renewable energy

The Laguna Lake project would generate enough electricity to power 2 million homes, Mylene Capongcol, deputy secretary of the Energy Department, said in a statement.

“The Department of Energy supports the development of floating solar projects as they will contribute to the government’s target of achieving a 35 per cent share of renewable energy in the energy mix by 2030 and 50 per cent by 2040,” she said.

The transition to renewable energy is becoming an increasingly urgent need for the Philippines.

It is now the most coal-dependent country in Southeast Asia, with about 62% of its electricity coming from the dirty fossil fuel last year, according to a report by think tank Ember.

The slow deployment of clean energy is partly due to competition with agriculture for space, as only 18% of the island nation’s total land area is considered arable land.

But floating solar panels could help ease tensions over land rights that have hampered solar development elsewhere, research firm Rystad Energy said in a report.

Currently, floating solar farms account for just 500 megawatts of power production in Southeast Asia, but another 300 MW is expected to be built this year.

“Countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand are well-positioned to lead this growing trend,” the report said, pointing out that Philippine inland lakes are suitable for building solar farms.

Lagonera also saw the technology as an opportunity for the Philippines to accelerate its transition to green energy.

“Given the Philippines’ ambitious renewable energy goals, floating solar systems represent an innovative alternative and an opportunity to scale up renewable energy,” he said.

“However, as floating solar cells, there is a risk of similar competition for limited resources.”

Along the shores of the Lagoon are many towns whose inhabitants depend on the lake for food, water and income.

Each year, fishermen catch up to 90,000 tons of fish from Philippine waters, including conch shell fish, catfish and ayungina, a silver perch endemic to the Philippines.

They are also among the poorest: nearly a third of all Filipino fishermen live below the poverty line. Alcones earns an average of $87 a month.

He has already noticed a decline in the number and diversity of fish, and blames the Lagoon, which is burdened by its use as a flood and sewage reservoir, as well as for irrigation and hydropower generation.

The LLDA believes that floating solar farms could contribute to the development of fisheries in the Lagoon in the future.

“Based on research … the lower part of the panels can be used as a breeding ground for fish,” Dizon said.

While some Laguna fishermen have welcomed the solar project, others feel they have more to lose than to gain.

“We recognize the energy transition or the transition to renewable energy. But that should be done in areas that are no longer productive, unlike Laguna Lake,” Arambulo said.