Wind Energy – Philippines
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines approved on Wednesday the plan of the Department of Energy (DOE) to explore and develop the country’s offshore wind potential as a source of sustainable energy.
Before leaving for Cambodia to attend the ASEAN Summit, Marcos met with and tasked DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla and other energy officials to push through with the agency’s offshore wind energy production initiatives.
Marcos said the DOE should handle the regulatory functions to streamline coordination and simplify the approval process, as the agency proposed the creation of an Offshore Wind Development and Investment Council.
“It should be the Department of Energy who should be talking with the OSW developers, in consultation with the council, of course. It has to be led by the DOE,” Marcos said in a press release.
The council will be composed of various government agencies and will serve as a one-stop shop for OSW developers.
The DOE reported to Marcos that there are 42 approved offshore wind contracts with an indicated capacity of 31,000 megawatts (MW).
Lotilla said there is a strong interest from the private sector, especially from countries considered leaders in offshore wind technology such as Denmark, Norway, and the United Kingdom, in this project.