JV to pioneer offshore wind projects in PH

By Myrna M. Velasco – March 29, 2020, 10:00 PM
from Manila Bulletin

A joint venture among Filipino-Swiss-German investors will be pioneering the development of offshore wind electric generating facilities in the country, which is considerably an uncharted territory yet on wind farm installations in this power market.

The joint venture Triconti Windkraft Group of Companies announced that they will be setting up two offshore wind ventures in Luzon and Visayas that will yield aggregate capacity of 1.2-gigawatt (1,200 mega¬watts).

That had been anchored on service contracts awarded recently to the firm by the Department of Energy. The targeted developments are in Aparri Bay in Cagayan Valley in Northern Luzon; while the other project shall be sited along the stretch of “Guimaras Strait” in Western Visayas.

Following the award of the service contracts, the project sponsor firm is targeting to move next on measuring the wind re¬source in the specified sites – and such will eventually determine the actual megawatt-potential of the proposed ventures.

Through the years, wind farm developments in the Philippines leaned more on onshore devel-opments, hence, the installation goal of Triconti Windkaft will be the first ones to prospectively advance on such energy technology-type in the country.

Offshore wind farms are installed in bodies of water – typically in oceans – to harvest the energy generating potential of such resource. This is seen ideal for the Philippines given that its archipelagic topography is really fused together by oceans, seas and lakes, among others.

In advancing this trailblazing venture, Stefan Simon, joint venture partner and managing director of Swiss firm Stream Invest Holding, indicated their excitement “to bring the benefits that offshore wind power generation promises to the Philippines.”

Simon further noted that with the portended scale and efficiencies of offshore wind farms, “we believe that it offers a cost competitive and greener alternative to conventional fuel power plants.

With the DOE-granted service contracts, he noted that their company already holds “the exclusive rights to studying and developing the very first offshore wind projects in the Philippines.”