The partnership of Singapore-headquartered The Blue Circle and Filipino firm CleanTech Global Renewable Inc. have secured a service contract from the Department of Energy (DOE) for their targeted 1,200-megawatt offshore wind farm installation in Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro.

The project sponsor-firms noted, in a media statement, that “despite the current pandemic situation which has affected the approval of wind power projects in the Philippines, The Blue Circle and CleanTech have succeeded in securing the exclusivity for the Bulalacao site development through a service contract in a competitive context.”

Offshore wind development in the country remains an uncharted territory even for the most well-entrenched players in the renewable energy sector. Nevertheless, this is an investment domain that is now gaining allure even from international energy firms like The Blue Circle.

As cast in the project blueprint of The Blue Circle-Cleantech tandem for the Bulalacao prospect, the proposed offshore wind farm development will be equipped with 100 turbines that will have generation capacity of 12 megawatts each, with an aggregate capacity of 1,200MW.

According to Olivier Duguet, chief executive officer of The Blue Circle, their project site in Mindoro “is ideally situated outside of major environmental constraints – away from direct typhoon hit zone and with high winds in shallow to medium-depth waters.”

He qualified that their company “has a strong team of wind energy professionals with experience in developing and operating wind power projects across the ASEAN region.”

For the Philippine market, Duguet asserted that they are “looking forward to working closely with our partner CleanTech Global Renewables to harness the country’s best wind resources, to power economic growth by creating green jobs while preserving the environment.”

Salvador Castro Jr., chief executive officer of CleanTech, emphasized that “the Bulalacao offshore project will incur a limited environmental footprint in a very favorable landscape for wind potential.”

He specified that the propounded offshore wind facility will have landbank reach of roughly 40,095 hectares, which is regarded as a “significant size for both floating and bottom fixed wind turbines.”

Castro highlighted that their company, as a player in the Philippine RE sector, has always “pushed for the adoption of new technologies and best practices to grow our renewable assets with the continuous support to pursue innovation from partners like The Blue Circle.”

CleanTech, in particular, had completed successful projects in the solar technology space before branching out into other RE developments, primarily in the wind sub-sector, both for onshore and offshore installations.