Over 16 gigawatts offshore wind power seen by 2028 - DOE

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) is charting a bold course for offshore wind development, with a goal of unlocking over 16 gigawatts of capacity by the end of President Marcos’ term.

Latest DOE data showed that 16 offshore wind projects with a combined capacity of 16,652 megawatts (MW) are set to begin construction by 2027 at the latest and deliver their first kilowatt-hours by 2028.

Among these offshore wind frontrunners are Domhain Earth Corp.’s 3,100 MW in Oriental Mindoro and Antique, 1,830 MW in Batangas and Occidental Mindoro, 1,600 MW in Ilocos Norte and Cagayan and 1,500 MW in Bataan, Cavite and Batangas.

The list also includes the 2,000-MW Ilocos Norte project of Buhawind Energy Northern Luzon Corp. as well as Copenhagen Infrastructure New Market Fund Philippines Corp.’s 1,000 MW in Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur, 650 MW in Northern Samar and 350 MW in Pangasinan and La Union.

Also in pre-development stages are Vind Energy Corp.’s 994 MW in Cavite and 728 MW in Guimaras, Triconti Southwind Corp.’s 600 MW in Negros Occidental and Jet Stream Windkraft Corp.’s 600 MW in Iloilo and Negros Occidental.

Completing the list are Ivisan Windkraft Corp.’s 450 MW in Bataan and Cavite and ACX3 Capital Holdings Inc.’s 500 MW in Camarines Sur, 475 MW in Lucena, Quezon and 275 MW in Tayabas, Quezon.

To support these offshore wind projects, the DOE facilitates coordination with relevant agencies such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

Earlier, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the PPA has committed and earmarked a budget for the repurposing and expansion of three priority ports in Ilocos Norte, Batangas and Camarines Norte.

These upgrades are designed to ensure that ports can handle the installation, commissioning and operational requirements of offshore wind projects, although further details have yet to be disclosed.

Further, Energy Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara said investors of frontrunner projects are “keen on participating” in the fifth round of the green energy auction (GEA) due to the planned modernization of critical facilities.

“The crucial parts are really the transmission and ports, so our move is really coordinated in that regard. We work with the NGCP and the local government unit for the right of way,” Guevara said.

Previously, the DOE said the GEA for offshore wind contracts is targeted as early as July this year, a move aimed at helping developers secure market access to ensure long-term demand for their generation capacities.

“We had already announced this last December because some of the frontrunner offshore wind projects needed to assure their investors that the GEA-5 is going to happen,” Guevara said.

GEA is a program designed to trigger the expansion of the country’s renewable energy capacity to boost the government’s target of scaling up the share of renewables in the energy mix to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.