U.S.-Backed Developer Has Big Plans for Floating Wind in Philippines

The Madrid-based offshore wind developer BlueFloat Energy has entered the Philippines renewable energy sector, with the CEO Carlos Martin Rivals revealing last week that the company is planning to install about 7.6 GW of floating offshore wind capacity, divided among four sites.

The locations where BlueFloat Energy acquired wind energy service contracts (WESCs) include Central Luzon, South Luzon, Northern Luzon and Southern Mindoro.

“We expect the first of these projects to be in execution phase and nearing completion by the end of this decade,” said Rivals.

BlueFloat Energy’s largest shareholder is the U.S.-based private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners. Its portfolio for offshore wind has a planned capacity of 32 GW in ten countries across the globe, and the Philippines has the largest share.

In the Asia Pacific region, BlueFloat Energy plans to put up 6.6 GW of offshore wind power each in Taiwan and Australia, and 1.9 GW in New Zealand.

The Philippines has potential to install about 21 GW of offshore wind power by 2040. The country’s total technical potential is 178 GW, according to the World Bank, owing to large areas around the country’s coast that have immense extractable wind resources.

Recently, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked the nation’s energy department to put together a policy framework to expedite the licensing process for offshore wind projects. The order supplements the country’s Energy Virtual One-Stop Shop (EVOSS) platform, a web-based system intended to remove bureaucratic barriers for investors.

The Philippine DOE said it has awarded 63 offshore wind contracts so far, with a total potential capacity of 49 GW.