Six Energy Companies Unite to Accelerate Offshore Wind Development in Philippines

December 20, 2023, by Adnan Memija

Six energy companies have joined forces and formed the Philippine-based offshore wind industry organisation to provide expertise and technical resource to accelerate the development of offshore wind projects in the country.

The organisation, named Pilipinas Offshore Wind Energy Resource Inc. (POWER), is formed by the following energy companies: Acen Corporation (ACEN), The Blue Circle (TBC), BlueFloat Energy (BlueFloat), Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (Citicore), Ignis ZA Global (Ignis), and Marubeni Asian Power Philippines Corporation (Marubeni).

With the support from offshore wind energy players, POWER aims to accelerate offshore wind development over the next decade by providing technical assistance and advisory services to various government agencies as well as coalition-building and advocacy to other stakeholders critical for a successful transition to renewable energy, said TBC.

According to organisation member TBC, offshore wind is an energy and climate solution that can help solve the ongoing power crisis and drive economic growth and promote energy security.

TBC said that offshore wind represents a unique opportunity to build a new clean energy industry and create a durable economic alternative to fossil fuel dependency.

In April last year, the World Bank and the Philippines’ Department of Energy (DOE) launched The Philippines Offshore Wind Roadmap, according to which the country has the potential to install as much as 21 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040 with the right governmental and policy support.

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The roadmap estimates the Philippines’ total technical offshore wind potential at 178 GW, with most of that capacity being in areas that are most suitable for floating wind technology.

In August, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) started working with DOE on updating the offshore wind and floating solar guidelines so they would become components of next year’s National Expenditure Program (NEP).

As for the POWER members, some of them already acquired sites offshore Philippines. In June, BlueFloat revealed that it acquired contracts for sites that are located offshore Central Luzon, South Luzon, Northern Luzon, and Southern Mindoro.