Top PHL energy firms keen on tapping offshore wind
BY LENIE LECTURA – APRIL 25, 2022
from Business Mirror
Power firms are heeding the call of the Department of Energy (DOE) to explore opportunities in the country’s offshore wind industry following last week’s release of the Philippines Offshore Wind Roadmap, which is seen to bring in as much as 40 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind installations by 2050.
San Miguel Corp. (SMC) President Ramon Ang said in a text message that the conglomerate’s power business will do its part to help the country develop offshore wind projects. He affirmed that the group has already identified potential sites.
SMC’s power unit, SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMCGP), is adding more renewables into its power portfolio as it veers away from building new coal power facilities, despite new technologies that make them cleaner. Ang said this company direction is in line with all the major sustainability initiatives that the conglomerate has undertaken these past couple of years.
SMCGP plays a pivotal role in serving as one of the biggest power suppliers in the country through its combined installed capacity of 4,697megawatts (MW).
While offshore wind power projects take longer to develop compared to solar power projects, AC Energy Corp. (ACEN) is interested to add more wind power in its portfolio.
“Yes, we’re keen to explore offshore wind opportunities in the country. Developing off shore wind will require long lead time, but hopefully we see the first projects to come to fruition within the decade,” said ACEN President Eric Francia in an interview.
ACEN has over 3,800 MW of attributable capacity in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Australia. The company’s renewable share of capacity is at 87 percent, among the highest in the region.
It wants to be the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia, with a goal of reaching 5,000 MW of renewables capacity by 2025.
Aboitiz Power Corp. will also pursue wind power projects as these form part of the company’s goal of accelerating its renewable energy aspirations.
In the next 10 years, Aboitiz Power will significantly expand its Cleanergy portfolio, in support of the government’s efforts to promote renewable energy in the country. It plans to build an additional 3,700 MW of renewable energy, growing its existing Cleanergy capacity threefold by 2030.
“While still in the works, I would say we, at Aboitiz Power, intends to actively and aggressively participate in this space,” said company president Emmanuel Rubio in a text message.
He said that gathering of data is crucial to ensure viability of identified sites. “Critical also is to have a full understanding of how these sites can be connected to grid. NGCP [National Grid Corporation of the Philippines] needs to be part of this endeavor to ensure these sites are connected to the grid,” he added.
The Department of Energy (DOE) and World Bank Group (WBG) released last week the roadmap, which stated that the Philippines has a potential to install 21GW of offshore wind power by 2040, making up 21 percent of its electricity supply, under the high growth scenario.
Based on a low-growth scenario, the country has the potential to install 3 GW of offshore wind by 2040, representing 3 percent of the country’s power supply.
The potential offshore wind development sites are in Northwest Luzon, Manila, Northern Mindanao, Southern Mindanao, Guimaras, among others.
Potential for offshore wind
The WB said these areas would be able to provide all the 20 GW capacity envisioned under the high-growth scenario up to 2040, with the potential to provide as much as 40 GW capacity by 2050.
“The Philippines’s waters have conditions that are well-suited to offshore wind. This abundant, indigenous energy resource offers an opportunity for the Philippines to boost energy security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase renewable energy supply,” said Ndiame Diop, World Bank country director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.
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 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. (ESMAP-IFC) Offshore Wind Development Program.
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.
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 our 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.
