The Philippines unveils a roadmap that analyzes the growth potential of offshore wind power in the country

On April 20, 2022, the Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) released the “Offshore Wind Power Roadmap for the Philippines.” This roadmap, led by the World Bank, analyzes the growth potential of offshore wind power in the Philippines. Specifically, two scenarios, high growth and low growth, are presented, and the roadmap suggests the introduction of offshore wind power with a capacity of 40 GW by 2050 in the high growth scenario. On the other hand, in the low growth scenario, the roadmap estimates that the generation capacity would remain at 6 GW in 2050.

In order to achieve the high growth scenario, it is necessary to promote sufficient competition, investment, and cost reduction. For this scenario to materialize, it is essential that the government works with stakeholders, as indicated in the roadmap. It will be important to develop a long-term plan for offshore wind power generation by 2050 as part of a decarbonized energy mix, set up offshore wind farms based on marine spatial planning, invest in power transmission, ports, and other energy infrastructure improvements, and strengthen collaboration with industry and other government agencies.

This report contains 39 recommendations addressed to the DOE and stakeholders in the Philippines, the main ones of which are as follows:

• Formulation of a vision for the development of offshore wind power generation as part of a decarbonized energy mix by 2050
• Setting targets for the deployment of offshore wind power in 2030 and 2040
• Overall feasibility study of potential offshore wind development zones in Southern Mindoro
• Establishment of long-term task forces in government and industry, involving domestic and international project developers and key suppliers
• Relaxation of the requirement of a certain percentage of ownership of offshore wind farm projects by domestic operators through constitutional amendments
• Setting up offshore wind farm development zones with minimal environmental and social risks
• Encouragement of financial mechanisms to reduce capital costs
• Formulation of a vision for a domestic transmission network by 2050 in order to build a decarbonized energy system
• Development of guidelines for port capacity to meet the physical requirements of offshore wind power
• Measurement of wind resources to serve as a basis for feasibility
• Construction of a technical reference framework relating to offshore wind power

The original text of the roadmap can be downloaded from:
https://www.doe.gov.ph/sites/default/files/pdf/announcements/Philippine-Offshore-Wind-Roadmap.pdf