Shell and Alternergy are partnering to explore opportunities to develop offshore wind projects in the Philippines, looking to develop at least 1 gigawatt (GW) of offshore wind power capacity in the ASEAN member state.
Alternergy Holdings, via its subsidiary Pililla AVPC Corporation (PACO), and Shell Overseas Investment will explore opportunities for offshore wind development at the Calavite Passage in Mindoro.
The partners will evaluate the commercially-viable potential of their awarded service contract and will undertake a feasibility study that could eventually lead to a final investment decision (FID) on the project, according to Alternergy chairman and former Energy Secretary Vincent S. Perez.
The site and adjacent areas could have the potential of 5 GW of offshore wind power.
The Philippines has the potential to install as much as 21 GW of offshore wind power generation by 2040 if the right long-term vision, infrastructure development, investment, and policies are in place, a report released by the Philippine Department of Energy and the World Bank Group showed earlier this year.
The so-called Philippines Offshore Wind Roadmap analysed two growth scenarios for offshore wind power in the Philippines—the low-growth scenario in which the country could install 3 GW of offshore wind within two decades, and the high-growth scenario that shows the potential to install 21 GW, which would account for 21 percent of electricity supply.
With over 7,000 islands, the waters in the Philippines have conditions that are well suited to offshore wind, the roadmap says. Offshore wind installation could help the Philippines improve its energy security by reducing its heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels, lower greenhouse gas emissions, boost renewable energy supply, reduce demand for land use, and help the economy through job creation and supply chain development.