PetroEnergy to develop offshore wind farms with foreign partner

PETROENERGY Resources Corp. is planning to develop the three offshore wind power projects in its pipeline with a foreign partner, the Yuchengcos’ energy arm said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

“These projects will be developed by PGEC (PetroGreen Energy Corp.) alongside a foreign partner,” the listed company said in its information statement submitted to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

PetroEnergy did not disclose the identity of the foreign partner nor the status of its partnership, but it said one of the proposed projects had secured the endorsement of the Department of Energy (DoE) on securing government permits.

The company, through its unit PetroGreen, is developing the offshore wind power projects off the coast of Occidental Mindoro, Iloilo, and Ilocos Norte.

In 2021, PetroGreen secured three wind energy service contracts from the DoE covering three offshore wind blocks.

On Dec. 28, 2021, the Energy department issued to PetroGreen the agency’s formal endorsement for the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) to go hold system impact studies for the three blocks.

“The early issuance will help both DoE and NGCP to plan their grid improvements to accommodate large-scale capacities from these offshore wind projects,” PetroEnergy said.

It said PetroGreen had also secured the DoE’s endorsement to local government units and national government agencies for the northern Luzon project in January 2022.

Onshore, PetroGreen is currently gathering wind data for two years to assess the long-term wind resource to support a potential wind-hybrid power project in San Vicente, Palawan.

The data gathering is the latest development in its Palawan project, which was awarded a wind energy service contract by the DoE in November 2019.

The proposed project is around 130 kilometers north of Puerto Princesa. Activities for the meteorological mast installation program for the San Vicente wind-hybrid power project had been put on hold due to pandemic-related travel restrictions.

In December 2020, PetroGreen’s contractor was mobilized to San Vicente to carry out the installation works for the 60-meter meteorological mast to be used for the wind measurement campaign. The mast was commissioned and turned over to the company in July 2021.

Incorporated in 2010, PetroGreen is 90% owned by PetroEnergy and acts as its renewable energy arm and holding company. It ventured into renewable energy development and power generation through its subsidiaries and affiliate, namely: Maibarara Geothermal, Inc. (65%-owned), PetroSolar Corp. (56%-owned), and PetroWind Energy, Inc. (40%-owned).

PetroEnergy is also into upstream oil exploration and development, including operations in Gabon, West Africa.

On Tuesday, shares in the company slipped by 1.02% or five centavos to close at P4.85 apiece on the stock exchange. — Victor V. Saulon