EnergyOMNI's Perspectives｜The Philippines Gov Streamline Land Access For Offshore Wind Development

Edited by EnergyOMNI

The Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) and the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) signed a Memorandum of Agreement on August 27 to streamline the process for securing onshore areas required for offshore wind development and grid interconnection.

The DOE and PNOC will establish a coordinated mechanism for securing and administering tenurial instruments for onshore areas required for offshore wind projects, including areas for electrical facilities and interconnection infrastructure such as cable landing points, onshore substations, step-up substations, operations and maintenance facilities, and access roads.

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said that the agreement would provide offshore wind developers with a clearer and more coordinated pathway for securing the onshore areas needed to support their projects. By clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of the agencies involved, the agreement is expected to reduce development uncertainties.

Under the coordinated mechanism, developers must submit relevant technical, legal, environmental, mapping, and other project documents to the DOE. The DOE will verify whether the proposed areas are necessary for the project before endorsing the applications to PNOC. Upon receiving the DOE-endorsed applications, PNOC must complete its review within 30 working days in accordance with the relevant requirements of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Following its review, PNOC will submit the applications to the DENR to secure the appropriate tenurial instruments for the onshore and offshore areas. Once the DENR issues the relevant tenurial instruments, PNOC must notify the developer within five calendar days and work toward executing a Project-Specific Use Agreement within 15 calendar days.

At the end of 2025, the Philippines announced the Green Energy Auction 5 (GEA-5), its first offshore wind auction, covering fixed-bottom offshore wind projects with a total capacity of 3,300 MW and targeting project completion between 2028 and 2030. Shortly after the auction was launched, however, the DOE announced in early July that the auction would be temporarily suspended to allow for recalibration of the auction mechanism. The revised Terms of Reference (TOR) is currently scheduled to be released for public consultation on October 2, with the bidding scheduled to formally conclude on December 1. Bid evaluation and the announcement of results are scheduled to take place from December 2 through June 30, 2027.