Gatchalian: Expedite dev't of transmission facilities for offshore wind projects
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has called on the government to hasten the development of transmission facilities for offshore wind (OSW) projects to boost the renewable energy (RE) sector’s contribution to the country’s energy requirements.
Gatchalian also said doing so would secure the Philippines to become the first Southeast Asian economy to have an OSW facility.
“The country would be better positioned to attract RE investments if transmission facilities are readily available for these RE facilities, particularly for OSW farms,” Gatchalian said on Sunday, October 15.
He also said ongoing large-scale capacities of OSW projects emphasizes the need to enhance the capability of the country's national grid to accommodate additional supply from RE projects.
Creation of transmission facilities also support a circular issued by the Department of Energy (DOE), which removed limitations on foreign ownership of RE facilities.
The circular effectively allows foreign nationals and foreign-owned entities to have majority ownership over projects that would explore, develop and use RE resources, such as solar, wind, biomass, ocean and tidal energy.
“There would be no point in removing limitations on foreign ownership if the country’s national grid does not have the transmission facilities that would absorb additional energy output coming from these RE facilities,” he explained.
So far, the DOE has awarded 79 OSW service contracts with an indicated 61.91 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity.
Northern Luzon, Northern Mindanao and Southern Mindanao are the prime areas that have been identified for the said projects.