ADB to authorize port dev’t studies for use by offshore wind industry

THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it is set to authorize consulting contracts to study the redevelopment of ports for use by the offshore wind power industry, adding that 10 candidate sites have been identified.

“I am to issue notice to proceed for selected consultants towards the end of the month or early next month so that I can meet the tight government deadline by October,” ADB Principal Energy Specialist Shigeru Yamamura said in a virtual forum on Thursday.

The bank provides technical assistance to the Department of Energy (DoE) to determine via a pre-feasibility study port readiness for offshore wind projects.

“We recently completed offshore wind regulatory framework development for the DoE and ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission),” he said. “We are also going to supply recommendations for environment and social safeguard standards for offshore wind sometime next month.”

For the study, the DoE has identified 10 sites — the Port of Currimao, Ilocos Norte; Port Irene, Sta. Ana, Cagayan; Port of Subic; Port of Tabaco, Albay; Bulalacao RORO Port, Oriental Mindoro; and Pulupandan and Banago Ports in Negros Occidental; the International Container Port Complex in Iloilo; the Batangas Energy Supply Base port facility of the Philippine National Oil Co.; and Bauan International Port, also in Batangas.

“The 10 ports we’ve submitted for ADB technical assistance are ports we’ve earmarked as marshaling ports — ports that require the highest investment,” Energy Undersecretary Giovanni Carlo J. Bacordo said.

Mr. Bacordo said the study will likely include the estimated cost of repurposing of ports, as well as the investment’s potential “considering there are already existing service contracts.”

To date, the DoE awarded a total of 82 offshore wind energy service contracts, with a potential capacity of about 63.36 gigawatts (GW).

At least 10 offshore wind projects with 6.72 GW are expected to generate power by 2028.

Mr. Yamamura said that the ADB will also propose “the optimal financing arrangement” for each selected port in the final report.

Action plans will be prepared to facilitate the private-public investment in the port “for earlier deployment of offshore wind in the government-designated timeframe,” he said. —