The Philippines advances on wind energy development-
Countries across regions are moving towards adopting renewable energy more actively to meet the twin challenges of energy security and depletion of conventional fuels. Of the available renewable energy sources, wind power is considered the most mature technology, with over 318 GW of capacity installed worldwide. The Philippines, one of the largest economies of the Southeast Asian region, has also been making efforts to harness the country’s renewable energy potential, particularly from wind. It aims to generate 15 GW of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030 and add 2.3 GW from wind by 2030.
The Southeast Asian region, as a whole, has experienced rapid economic growth over the past two decades and its energy demand has risen two and a half times since 1990, one of the fastest growth rates in the world. At the same time, the distribution of fossil fuel resources among the countries of the region is highly uneven. While Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei are well endowed with coal and natural gas, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines are dependent on imports to fulfil their energy needs. In an attempt to reduce its dependence on foreign energy sources and to combat environmental issues associated with the use of fossil fuels, the Philippines is trying to promote the use of renewable energy sources for power generation.
Resource potential
In 2001, US-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released the Wind Energy Resource Atlas of the Philippines. The report utilised meso-scale and micro-scale data to map the country’s wind energy generation potential. The report gave a detailed national-scale wind resource analysis and mapping results for the country. The study estimated that the country had 11,055 square km of windy land with good to excellent wind resource potential, particularly in the northern and central regions. It estimated the maximum wind energy potential of the country at 76.6 GW at a hub height of 10 metres. The atlas was instrumental in identifying 14 new sites, where wind measurement systems were subsequently installed.
Once the wind energy potential was established, the government enacted the Renewable Energy Act in 2008 to prescribe institutional arrangements to promote renewable energy development and establish regulatory frameworks such as feed-in tariffs, net metering, renewable portfolio standards, development of a renewable energy market, green market options and grid access. The policy also prescribed fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for renewable energy developers and stakeholders in the commercialisation of renewable energy technologies, and established a trust fund to support the development of the renewable energy sector.
According to the policy, the government identified five strategies to promote wind energy development. These are intensifying research, development, demonstration and deployment of wind energy technologies; conducting detailed wind energy resource assessments; aggressively pursuing the development of wind energy projects; implementing extensive information and educational campaigns explaining the benefits of wind energy; and institutionalising area-based energy planning and management for wind energy systems. Under this policy, the government has awarded 41 wind power contracts to install 1,887 MW of total capacity. According to the Department of Energy, Government of Philippines, about 87 MW of wind capacity has been installed and 900 MW is under construction as of October 2014.
Recent developments
NREL, in association with the Philippines government, recently updated the country’s wind atlas with ground measurement data. This was done because wind resource modelling tools and wind turbine technologies have been steadily improving in recent years. The new study has estimated the country’s wind energy potential at hub heights of 30 metres, 80 metres and 100 metres, as opposed to 10 metres considered in the original atlas. The updated atlas includes new data sets and maps to support both government energy planning and industry investment in the emerging wind energy sector.
Reportedly, the new atlas estimates the country to have 89 GW of resource potential at a hub height of 30 metres. Further, at a hub height of 80 metres, the estimated maximum resource potential is 203 GW, while at 100 metres above ground level, it is 248 GW. Such detailed spatial planning analysis of wind resource information can help identify additional opportunities for the private sector.
Key challenges
While the country has been making concerted efforts to develop renewable energy, certain challenges remain. The high upfront investments required for undertaking wind energy projects coupled with lack of accessibility to financing for renewable power projects poses the biggest challenge for the country. Further, the non-competitiveness of wind power technology with conventional power technologies and non-viable electricity markets also pose potential threats. In addition, lack of awareness and social acceptability of renewable energy projects has hampered the pace of development of the sector.
To address these challenges, the government had launched the National Renewable Energy Plan (NREP) in 2011. It set a target of almost tripling the installed renewable energy base from 5.4 GW in 2010 to 15 GW in 2030. The target for wind development was to increase the total installed capacity from 33 MW in 2010 to 2.3 GW in 2030. The national-level target is indicative of the government’s commitment towards the sector.
The way forward
According to the 2011 census of the Philippines, about 28 million people in the country still do not have access to electricity. At the same time, the country is racing ahead to become the region’s largest economy. To realise the growth potential of the country, it is essential that the country remains committed to the development of alternative sources of power. Since it has good wind energy potential, it is imperative that the development of wind power is expedited. The government can take further steps to strengthen the capacities of local wind energy industry stakeholders and provide support in terms of knowledge and expertise sharing to all stakeholders in the wind energy sector.
