Another Gigawatt-Scale Wind Project Emerges Offshore Philippines

The Blue Circle and its partner CleanTech Global Renewables, Inc. have signed their first wind energy service contract for an offshore wind project in the Philippines – the 1.2 GW project in Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro.

The Blue Circle and CleanTech have succeeded in securing the exclusivity for the Bulalacao site development through a service contract in a competitive context, the developers said. The wind farm will feature 100 turbines with a unit capacity of 12 MW.

This is in concordance with the roadmap being prepared by the Philippines Department of Energy under the assistance of the World Bank Group, which has estimated that the potential of offshore wind power in the Philippines is over 170 GW and has selected Oriental Mindoro as the best offshore wind site of the country.

”After spending many years developing onshore wind projects in the Philippines, I am very excited by the promising Bulalacao offshore potential,” said Olivier Duguet , Chief Executive Officer at The Blue Circle.

”This site is ideally situated outside of major environmental constraints, away from the direct typhoon hit zone and with high winds in shallow to medium depth waters. The Blue Circle has a strong team of wind energy professionals with experience in developing and operating wind power projects across the ASEAN region. We are committed to developing this site and take part in the Philippines’ government efforts to meet its carbon emissions reduction target and prepare the country for more sustainable and greener future expansion. We are looking forward to working closely with our partner Cleantech Global Renewables, Inc. to harness the country’s best wind resources, to power economic growth by creating green jobs while preserving the environment.”

According to the government’s Clean Energy Scenario (CES) outlined in the Philippines Energy Plan 2020-2040, the archipelago needs to add at least 92 GW of renewable energy to its energy mix by 2040 to reach the 50 per cent mark for renewable energy share.

Some 11.8 GW are expected to be sourced from various types of wind projects. In order to meet the CES goals, UK’s BVG Associates (BVGA) estimated that the Philippines will need to be operating four large offshore projects by 2040. Under the high-growth scenario, the Philippine potential for offshore wind is 20 GW by 2040 and 40 GW by 2050.

”Cleantech Global Renewables, Inc. has strongly pushed for the adoption of new technologies and best practices to grow our renewables assets with the continuous support to pursue innovation from partners like The Blue Circle,” said Aboy Castro , Chief Executive Officer at Cleantech Global Renewables, Inc.

”The Bulalacao offshore project will incur a limited environmental footprint in a very favorable landscape for wind power potential. The project, whose landbank reaches approximately 40,095 hectares, will be of a significant size for both floating and bottom fixed wind turbines. I am enthusiastic and eager to build this major stepping stone towards our country’s sustainable development and energy independence.”

This project is not on the list of projects cleared for system impact studies with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) issued by The Philippines’ Department of Energy .

The list includes 17 offshore wind projects with a combined capacity of up to 11.6 GW. Five of the projects are in the gigawatt-scale range.

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