Challenges for implementing renewable energy in a cooperative-driven off-grid system in the Philippines.

• Slow policy implementation are key obstacles for cooperatives to engage in low-carbon energy development in the Philippines. • The missionary electrification scheme fails to incentivize the development of low-carbon energy technologies in remote islands. • Laws and policies are not transformative per se. It takes people to animate these policies and laws. • The lack of a comprehensive energy sector planning at different levels is a major obstacle in the policy domain. • Joint venture schemes with electric cooperatives are not attractive to the private sector due to low revenue projections. Implementing renewable energy on Philippine islands is essential for sustainable development. Electric cooperatives play a key role to provide renewable energy to marginalized and remote communities not profiting from private sector interest. However, a low-carbon transformation of energy systems implies political, economic, technical, and societal risks and uncertainties. Here, we investigate those faced by the Romblon Electric Cooperative (ROMELCO) in installing one of the Philippines' first off-grid, hybrid energy system in the small and remote island of Cobrador. We apply a transdisciplinary mixed methods approach including expert interviews, surveys, and focus group discussions. We identify the most serious implementation risk faced by ROMELCO as the discontinuity between the policy pronouncement and implementation practice. We contribute with an analysis of ROMELCO's actions to address the complex bundle of implementation policies and programs for a wider replication and scaling up of cooperative based power supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]