PetroEnergy to focus on solar, offshore wind farms

PETROENERGY Resources Corp. targets to add 400 megawatts (MW) to its portfolio in the next three to four years, while it plans to build three offshore wind farms in the long term, a company official said.

“In the next one to two years, we will add 100 MW of new solar projects and another 300 MW in the next three to four years, while in the long term we are betting on offshore wind because of the advantages of the offshore wind in scaling up the renewable energy generation,” said PetroEnergy Vice-President Francisco G. Delfin during the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) virtual forum on sustainability on Wednesday.

In December, the Energy department endorsed to the grid operator three offshore wind projects of PetroEnergy subsidiary PetroGreen Energy Corp. for a study on their impact on the power grid system. These projects will be In Northern Luzon, Northern Mindoro, and East Panay.

The company, through its subsidiary PetroWind Energy, Inc., has the 36-MW Nabas-1 wind project, which started operations in 2015.

Mr. Delfin added that offshore wind energy projects are more flexible as they do not have limitations on size and accessibility unlike solar and geothermal projects.

He said the company is considering partnering with financial institutions and other companies for the wind farms as these are costly.

Energy Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella said the country holds a potential 178 gigawatts of offshore wind energy.

He also said he is confident that government would achieve its goal of having 35% of the country’s energy mix sourced from renewables by 2030.

“However, there will be lot of improvements and a lot of things that need to be synergized. That’s why we are urging the grid operators to comply to their contracted requirements because we need them to contract as the secondary price gaps in the wholesale electricity spot market are too low,” he said.

“Contracting is the key to shield us form the volatility of prices,” he added.

Mr. Delfin said PetroEnergy is also planning to expand its 32-MW Maibarara geothermal power plant, but this will take a back seat as the company’s priority is its new solar and offshore wind projects.

On Wednesday, shares in PetroEnergy rose by two centavos or 0.47% to close at P4.30 each. — Marielle C. Lucenio