Luzon ports to be converted into offshore wind sites

MANILA, Philippines — At least three ports in Luzon will be converted into offshore wind terminals before the end of the Marcos administration in 2028 at a projected cost of P47 billion, the Philippine Ports Authority said.

The PPA will bid out this year the first of two phases to make the Port of Mercedes in Camarines Norte an offshore wind site, with the goal of completing it by 2026.

PPA general manager Jay Santiago said each of the two phases would require about P2.4 billion, with the agency paying for it on its own.

“We intend to bid that out before the end of the year, so that we will be able to beat the end-2026 deadline for the first phase. The DOE (Department of Energy) will have enough time to generate the first kilowatt by the first quarter of 2028,” Santiago told The STAR.

Moreover, the PPA is firming up the P14-billion port management terminal contract (PTMC) to develop a 27-hectare property in the Port of Batangas into an offshore wind farm. The project is situated beside the Batangas Container Terminal.

However, Santiago is still weighing options on how to repurpose the Port of Currimao in Ilocos Norte, as initial estimates from consultants showed it would require up to P28 billion.

The state-run PPA said it may find it difficult to produce such an amount, and there are also doubts if the private sector is interested in taking on the cost.

“Based on initial discussions, Currimao could require a development cost of P28 billion. We are still thinking if it would be done by procurement or PTMC. If procurement, the PPA cannot fund that, and if PTMC, I don’t know if there are takers,” Santiago said.

The PPA has also scrapped the plan to transform 10 ports into offshore wind terminals. Santiago said some are just too costly to repurpose, especially as placing wind turbines on the sea requires specific equipment.

Ports manage weight exertion by limiting the number of ships on piers. Offshore wind terminals are incapable of doing this, as turbines must be brought in as a whole.

Had the PPA pursued the redevelopment of all 10 ports, they would put out a combined capacity of 6.72 gigawatts, based on estimates from the DOE.

“We have to make sure that the terminals, which will service the offshore wind equipment, have the capacity to handle, or else they risk ending up in overcapacity,” Santiago said.

Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon pointed out the urgency of converting some ports, particularly the inactive ones, into offshore wind sites to scale up the country’s energy supply.

Ridon, founder of Infrawatch PH, said the Port of Mercedes was identified as a non-functioning asset, making it easy for the PPA to select it as a possible site. Bicol also operates bigger ports, which are more than enough to support the region’s logistics demand.

In spite of this, Ridon hopes the PPA can come up with a revenue mechanism to earn from ports converted into offshore wind farms. This ensures that the PPA would sustain revenue flows, as it contributes some of the highest dividends to the government yearly.

“It is nonetheless important for the PPA to be able to charge port usage fees from the wind farm operators, which we are expecting must be far greater than revenue from typical port operations,” Ridon told The STAR.

In June, the DOE launched the fifth green energy auction for up to 3,300 megawatts, focusing this time on offshore wind, to be delivered between 2028 and 2030.

The DOE, with help from the PPA, is working to generate the first kilowatt-hours from offshore wind before the end of the Marcos administration in 2028.