Large energy companies led by the renewable energy arm of the Yuchengco Group’s PetroEnergy Resources Corp. have been awarded government contracts to develop offshore wind power projects with a combined potential power output of 30 gigawatts, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).
“We have issued the offshore wind service contracts to about 20 offshore wind developers and these involve around 40 offshore wind contracts with an equivalent of about 30 gigawatts of potential capacity,” said Energy Assistant Secretary Mylene Capongcol at a recent event in Makati City.
Predevelopment stage
Most of these offshore wind projects that are already in the predevelopment stage will be in Luzon, specifically in Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, Bataan, Aurora, Batangas, Cavite and Occidental Mindoro, based on the latest data from the DOE.
Northern Luzon Offshore Wind Power Project of PetroGreen Energy Corp. is the largest offshore wind power project on the DOE tally, with the contract to produce 2,000 megawatts of clean energy in Ilocos Norte.
The second largest is the 1,600-MW Claveria Offshore Wind Farm of Domhain Earth Corp. located off Cagayan and Ilocos Norte.
CleanTech Global Renewables Inc. also bagged a contract to undertake the 1,200-MW Bulalacao Bay Offshore Wind Energy Project in the bays of Bulalacao and Soguicay in Oriental Mindoro and also in Caluya in Antique.
Pililla AVPC Corp., a subsidiary of Alternergy Holdings Corp., is building the Calavite Passage Offshore Wind Project in Occidental Mindoro while the Lopez Group’s Energy Development Corp. (EDC) is working on the Iloilo-Guimaras Offshore Wind Power Project situated in the provinces of Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Guimaras. Both have a potential capacity of 1,000 MW each.
Other offshore wind projects with a capacity of less than 1,000 MW include TOTALPower Inc.’s Ilocos Norte Onshore and Offshore Wind Power Project, Earth Sol Power Corp.’s Bagac Bay Offshore Wind Project, 1 Barracuda Energy Corp.’s Aurora Offshore Wind Power Project, Giga Ace 7 Inc.’s Calatagan Offshore Wind Power Project and wpd Philippines Inc.’s Cavite Offshore Wind Power Project.
Also on the list are Vind Energy Corp.’s Cavite Offshore Wind Project, GS4 Offshore Wind Power Project, NOM FL1 Offshore Wind Project, GS1 Offshore Wind Project and GS2 Offshore Wind Power Project; Earth Sol Power Corp.’s San Lorenzo Bank Offshore Wind Project and EDC’s Guimaras 1 Offshore Wind Power Project.
Further, the Negros and Negros 2 offshore wind projects of wpd Philippines, East Panay Offshore Wind Power Project of PGEC and Oton Bank Offshore Wind Power Project of Earth Sol Power made the cut.
The Philippines has the potential to install 21 GW of offshore wind power by 2040, based on a report released by the Department of Energy and the World Bank, reflecting the country’s potential to develop “a robust offshore wind industry.”