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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider Trade & Industry devider ADB: National grid retrofitting to enable offshore wind projects

ADB: National grid retrofitting to enable offshore wind projects

Published Oct 29, 2025 04:29 pm

SINGAPORE — The Manila-based multilateral lender Asian Development Bank (ADB) is reaffirming its commitment to improve the grid infrastructure of the Philippines as it ramps up renewable energy (RE) integration.

On the sidelines of Asia Clean Energy Summit (ACES) 2025, ADB senior director for energy Priyantha Wijayatunga highlighted the need to redevelop the grid to accommodate new advancements, particularly offshore wind (OSW).

“We are looking at strengthening your national grid. I know the national grid operator is private,” he said, noting that the country’s network is managed by National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

“As you know, the grid has not been strengthened adequately in recent times, particularly to absorb RE from offshore wind and so on. So there is a request… [for the] ADB to support. And how we are going to support, we have to work out.”

While there are still no details on extending financial support to improve the country’s power network, the ADB is actively pursuing the development of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Power Grid, which would link the power grids of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The project is designed to facilitate energy sharing among ASEAN countries—allowing those with excess power to supply nations with higher demand. In June, the ADB projected around $16 billion to pursue this regional grid link, alongside the $100 million needed for transmission investments across the ASEAN region.

In the Philippines, NGCP energized the ₱51.3-billion Mindanao-Visayas interconnection project (MVIP) in 2024.

Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Sharon Garin said the interconnection marks the first time the country’s three main island grids were physically connected.

“This experience, though on a national scale, reflects the same principles of the ASEAN Power Grid, wherein by linking our systems, we can optimize our various resources and contribute to the stability of supply,” she said during the International Energy Agency Forum.

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