Filipino-owned renewable energy developer CleanTech Global Renewables Inc. has teamed up with Singapore-based The Blue Circle to undertake a 1.2 GW offshore wind project in Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro.
Despite the current pandemic situation which has affected the approval of wind power projects in the Philippines, 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 planned one-hundred turbines with a unit capacity of 12 MW for a total of 1200 MW will constitute the largest offshore wind project in the country. 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.
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% 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.
(Source: The Blue Circle)