The Philippines could have its first offshore wind turbines in the water by 2024 using supersized machines of 10MW or larger, said a senior executive at the developer planning the country's initial 1.2GW of projects.

Triconti ECC Renewables is planning twin 600MW offshore wind projects after securing the go-ahead from the Philippines government to advance development at the sites – Aparri Bay in the north and Guimaras Strait in the central region of the multi-islanded Southeast Asian nation.

Theo Sunico, vice president and director at Triconti ECC, told Recharge the government go-ahead gives the company a five-year exclusivity window to work on the projects against agreed milestones.

If all goes to plan Guimaras could be ready to deploy a 150MW first phase in 2024, with Aparri Bay following a year later, using fixed foundations in depths between 15 and 35 metres at sites 5-15km from shore. Initial estimates suggest wind speeds of 9/10 metres per second at the sites.

“Our initial numbers were based on 8MW turbines. But with the advances in technology we’re looking at 10MW, if not larger,” Sunico said, adding that no particular supplier has been earmarked at this stage.

Triconti ECC – a joint venture between local Philippines developers, Germany-based Windkraft and Swiss investor Stream Invest which is already advancing onshore wind projects in the country – is working on the basis of costs of $2.1m-2.5m per megawatt for the offshore plants, said Sunico.

“Our normal model is we develop a project all the way to ready-to-build, then we look for an equity partner to take on the construction risk,” he said, adding that the joint venture expects to talk to local and international investors.

The Philippines government is currently laying plans to support renewables growth in the country through a competitive Green Energy programme, as part of a wider ambition to reach a renewable power-share of at least 35% by 2040 in the nation of more than 100 million.

Although the first two projects will be fixed-bottom developments, the longer-term potential in the Philippines is likely to see floating wind come to the fore.

Sunico cited a study from the World Bank that identifies offshore potential of 18GW for fixed and 160GW for floating projects there.

“In most of the other promising areas we've looked at, the bottom drops off quite abruptly less than kilometre from the shore,” he said.

The World Bank last year identified the Philippines as one of a group of economies where offshore wind could be crucial to helping meet rapidly growing power demand.

If the Triconti ECC projects advance as planned, the nation would join a growing roll-call of Asian offshore wind markets that are helping tilt the sector’s focus away from Europe.

That list includes first-movers China and Taiwan, with Japan and Korea following soon, and developments actively planned in Vietnam and Australia. India is also planning an entry to the offshore wind sector within the next few years.

Wind

Philippines offshore wind pioneers see supersized turbines at first projects