The Aboitiz Power Corporation has partnered with Singapore-based Clime Capital Management and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) to explore the country’s potential in offshore wind energy.
AboitizPower and the two foreign entities will be launching a feasibility study for the development of up to 3000 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind capacity.
“There is significant potential to expand the generation of wind power, especially offshore where wind farms generate more power because of higher wind speeds,” Clime Capital said in a statement.
Data from the Department of Energy (DOE) said that the country has an installed capacity of onshore wind energy of 443 MW as of 2020. And according to the World Bank Group, the country has around 178 gigawatts of potential offshore wind resources.
The feasibility study between the three companies looks to complement the existing study by adding an assessment of the wind resource and identification of competing development projects, among others.
The goal of the project is to “unlock the offshore wind market, marshal resources to prepare the supply chain in case offshore wind proceeds with the development stage, and capture necessary data.”
Aboitiz Power will serve as the project lead for the consortium, particularly in the pre-feasibility assessment and wind data collection phase.
“It is our goal to contribute to our country’s energy transition journey by exploring more zero-emissions indigenous energy sources. This offshore wind feasibility study is a step in the right direction as we further diversify our extensive renewable energy portfolio to achieve our goal,” AboitizPower president and CEO Emmanuel Rubio said.
The project is partially funded by the United State Trade and Development Agency and will commence on August 11 and is expected to conclude by mid-2023.