Offshore wind power projects in the Philippines cast sails in uncharted waters

[SINGAPORE] The Philippines’ latest green energy auction has lured investors to its offshore wind push, but experts caution that the country’s 2030 target of 3.3 gigawatts (GW) may be overly ambitious, given the long lead times and complex approvals such projects demand.

“We are a little sceptical about the timeline,” said Shantanu Jaiswal, head of India and South-east Asia research at Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

“Globally, we’ve seen that it typically takes six to 10 years to develop offshore wind from scratch,” Jaiswal noted. “Offshore wind needs more approvals and environmental clearances, and processes like seabed studies.”