PetroGreen Energy Corporation and Copenhagen Energy
BuhaWind Energy Philippines
We are developing three floating offshore wind farms, which support the Philippine government’s high priority of growing the domestic renewable energy industry to increase security of national power supply, reduce carbon emissions and secure local jobs.
Located off the coast of the Philippines, the three wind farms will generate a total capacity of 4 gigawatts (GW) of power once commissioned – Northern Luzon (2 GW), Northern Mindoro (1GW) and East Panay (1 GW).
An Introduction
PetroGreen Energy Corporation (PGEC) and Copenhagen Energy (CE) begun to co-develop projects off the coast of the Philippines in 2020 and formalized their collaboration by forming the partnership, BuhaWind Energy Philippines (BEP), in 2022.
PGEC has an extensive track record in developing and operating renewable generation plants (onshore wind, solar, geothermal) across the Philippines.
While the Danish renewable energy developer, Copenhagen Energy, has significant cumulative experience in developing offshore wind, onshore wind and solar power generation plants in Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Australia and the Philippines.
The Projects
About the Projects
BuhaWind is developing three floating offshore wind farms – Northern Luzon, Northern Mindoro and East Panay.
Northern Luzon – offshore of Ilocos Norte – will produce 2 GW of electricity and is expected to be fully operational in 2030.
Northern Mindoro – offshore of Occidental Mindoro and Batangas – will produce 1 GW of electricity and is expected to be operational in 2031.
East Panay – offshore of Iloilo and Guimaras – will produce 1 GW of electricity and is expected to be operational in 2033.
Once commissioned, the wind farms will operate year round for 30+ years .
Located 1-18 km off the coast in their respective location, the three wind farms will generate a total capacity of 4 gigawatts (GW) of power once fully commissioned. The water depths of 80 – 800 meters provide very good conditions for the implementation of floating foundation technology.
The turbine and foundation assembly will be done onshore at large port areas, then each structure will be tugged by a boat to its offshore location.
BuhaWind offshore wind projects bring significant opportunities
Offshore wind
Why offshore?
Simply speaking, offshore wind projects can generate much more electricity with higher efficiency than typical onshore wind farms and solar PV farms. Over the past two decades, global investment in offshore wind technology resulted in it becoming much less expensive. The lower costs combined with better, more consistent wind resource and less potential to be impacted by onshore land use constraints makes it attractive to build the world’s largest windfarms offshore. Typically, environmental impacts offshore are less than the environmental impacts onshore. Deploying large-scale windfarms is preferrable offshore given the vast amount of area that is required for large-scale power generation. Offshore wind projects are also capable of generating more electricity with higher efficiency than typical onshore wind farms. The proposed projects will be the first offshore wind farms for the Philippines.
When will it be ready?
We’re planning to start construction of the first wind farm, 2GW Northern Luzon, in 2027, with first power expected in 2028 and full operational capacity reached in 2030. This is pending all necessary government approvals.
The Philippine Government’s national energy strategy is focused on strong growth in renewable power generation with a view to bring electricity to more that 1 million unserved households.
The proposed project will be the first offshore wind farm for the Philippines and is strongly supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) which has set a target for development of 28 GW of offshore wind by 2030.
This strong outlook on renewables is supported by increasing electricity demand driven by the population growth (115m in 2022, 1.5% p.a.) and a desire to shift away from fossil fuel generation.
What is floating technology?
Floating foundation offshore wind farms are needed in waters deeper than 70 meters and require a different method of design and installation than the currently more predominant ‘fixed foundations’ which deeply penetrate the seabed with monopiles. Floating foundations only require the affixation of an anchor and mooring system to the seabed with high tensile subsea cables connected to the ‘floating’ structure at and above sea level and can be easier to install, maintain and decommission at the end of their life cycle
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Sustainability
Health, Safety, Environment, & Quality Assurance
We have a strong commitment towards managing the impacts of our projects through sustainability programs and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects that results in environmental preservation and forge a positive and lasting relationship with our host communities.
Our health, safety and environment policies will ensure that impacts will be minimized during the construction and operation phases.
CSR Programs
Focused on health, education and livelihood, our CSR programs not only address the needs of our local communities, but also help empower them to enrich their quality of life.
Our programs promote health through regular nutrition projects and medical missions, support education through life-long learning activities, and enrich communities through skill-building and training.
Our health projects stress the need to ensure that our host communities have access to medical services and proper nutrition.
Our education programs have three main objectives:
- Engage the community through information,
- Educate them through formal programs, and
- Equip them with the appropriate learning materials and facilities.
We bring this sustainability and CSR commitment and goals in developing our offshore wind power projects.
Fishing and offshore wind
Co-existing with local fishing activities
Protecting the natural environment and mitigating environmental impacts is central to our proposal.
We are committed to extensive consultation with recreational and professional fishing groups to gain feedback and insights as we determine the best locations for our turbines within the development area.
We will use international best practices and conduct thorough environmental impact studies to apply the most stringent mitigation applications to preserve the local marine environment.
Wind Turbines will be installed 1.0 – 1.5km apart and once they are erected, there will be no restriction on fishing activities, once the construction phase is complete. Exclusion zones, equivalent to the radius of the wind turbines, might be imposed for community and maritime safety purposes.
A fish behaviour study will be included in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which will focus on project impact on noise and vibration. The study will review annual fish production since other wind power projects became operational, looking at the trends in fish catch. The study will involve about 17 years of data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics and the results of the EIA study will be presented to the community.
BuhaWind will also coordinate with BFAR to determine the location of proposed marine sanctuarie and we will avoid these areas in consultation with the communities.
We anticipate that over several years, similar to other offshore wind farms, there will be marine growth on the floating structures which will attract various fish species and establish a new ecosystem which will increase the fish biomass.
Approvals
Where are we at?
Development progress for the BuhaWind Projects is on track for all three offshore wind farms.
Wind Energy Service Contracts (WESC) were secured from the Department of Energy (DOE) in the period from June to October 2021 and pre-feasibility technical studies completed for wind resources, marine conditions and energy yield the following month.
Stakeholder consultations with local government units of the provinces and municipalities hosting the three offshore wind sites are ongoing.
Northern Luzon should be operational by mid-2030 with Northern Mindoro following in 2031 and East Panay in 2033.
