Ten of the country’s ports are being repurposed as support assets for offshore wind (OSW) facilities under a plan supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
This surfaced on Thursday at the Department of Energy (DOE) which co-hosted a public forum on renewable energy generation with the Manila-based multilateral lender.
The ports under evaluation as support sites include the Port of Currimao, Port Irene, Subic Port, Bauan International Port, PNOC ESB Port, Port of Tabaco, Iloilo Commercial Port Complex, Banago Port and Pulupandan Port.
Shigeru Yamamura, ADB principal energy specialist, told reporters the pre-feasibility study could begin by October this year once the notice to proceed is sent out towards the end of this month.
According to him, financing the projects could come in the form of a sovereign, commercial or concessional financing or via a partial credit guarantee.
“I believe there is no one-size-fits-all financing arrangement to support the ten ports. My initial assessment is that capital expenditure and projected revenue as well as certainties will be entirely different, according to the function and location and the government timeframe,” Yamamura said.
He also said a continuing dialogue with the private sector is needed to understand their challenges and preferences for sustainable OSW development towards 2030 and beyond.
DOE Undersecretary Giovanni Carlo Bacordo, said the ten ports submitted for ADB study were “marshaling ports.”
A study has established that the Philippine potential for OSW generation is estimated at 178 gigawatts (GW).
Thus far the DOE has awarded 82 offshore wind projects with potential capacity of 63.359 GW. These are located north of Luzon, west of Metro Manila, north and south of Mindoro, Panay and Guimaras Strait, all in pre-development stage.
Of the 82 awarded offshore wind service contracts, 12 stand out as they were awarded to five foreign-owned companies following the lifting of ownership restrictions in November 2022.
