Offshore wind seen helping PHL meet energy demand
BY LENIE LECTURA – APRIL 20, 2022
from Business Mirror
The Philippines has the potential to install 21 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power, based on the new roadmap released by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the World Bank Group (WBG).
Based on a low-growth scenario, the Philippines has the potential to install 3 GW of offshore wind by 2040, making up 3 percent of the country’s electricity supply. The high-growth scenario, meanwhile, suggests the potential to install 21GW, making up 21 percent of its electricity supply.
The roadmap is one of a series of offshore wind roadmap studies commissioned by the WBG under the joint Energy Sector Management Assistance Program-International Finance Corp. Offshore Wind Development Program.
To achieve these scenarios, the roadmap provides guidance on actions that must be taken by the government, putting in place a long-term plan for offshore wind until 2050 as part of a decarbonized energy mix; establishing offshore wind development zones through further marine spatial planning; investment in transmission, port and other energy infrastructure upgrades; increasing collaboration with industry and other relevant government agencies; among others.
“The Philippines has a rapidly growing demand for power. It is clear from this roadmap that offshore wind can play a major role in meeting our country’s energy demand indigenously, while also accelerating decarbonization,” said Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi.
The WBG has been working closely with the DOE to prepare this first-of-its-kind roadmap, which aims to tap the country’s 178GW offshore wind potential.
During the launch of the roadmap, Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said the agency has received numerous interests and applications in offshore wind from the private sector, with awarded wind energy service contracts equivalent to more than 14,000 MW capacity as of February this year.
The DOE, he added, engaged public and private sectors through focus group discussions conducted in the first quarter of 2022, to ensure an efficient and coherent permitting process for private stakeholders.
“One of the next steps we are taking to build the Philippines’s Offshore Wind Industry is a high-level technical study on a representative offshore wind project that could be delivered before 2030.
It describes all of the main activities that a developer will need to undertake to develop and construct a project and, importantly, how these actions relate to the government’s actions and the roadmap’s recommendations,” said Fuentebella.
