The politics of energy and development: Aid diversification in the Philippines

Energy-related development aid has diversified significantly over time. With insights from eight donor-driven renewable energy projects in the Philippines, this qualitative study highlights the effects of a diversified development aid landscape on renewable energy development. The comparison reveals both positive and negative results. On the one hand, the Philippine government can benefit from competition among donors for national policy advice. On the other hand, small-scale solar power demonstration projects suffer from obstacles that should have been known already from previous donor-driven interventions. The article recommends stronger forms of donor coordination. A differentiation between national and local level projects turns out to be beneficiary for the broader debate on aid diversification. This study is based on field trips and semi-structured interviews with development cooperation experts, their counterparts and other stakeholders of the Philippine energy sector.