The Department of Energy (DOE) will hold its fifth Green Energy Auction on August 27. Energy companies will submit proposals to secure contracts with the DOE. This is the first auction exclusively for offshore wind (OSW) farm projects.

OSW farms are clusters of turbines built at sea to generate electricity from strong sea winds. These come in two types: floating turbines and those fixed to the seabed.

The World Bank aggressively pushed for OSW construction in the Philippines as early as 2019. It released in 2022 the “Offshore Wind Roadmap for the Philippines,” a comprehensive guide on how to implement and expand OSW in the country. Its strict recommendations include allowing 100% foreign ownership and expediting the application process.

The institution claims the country can potentially generate 178 gigawatts (GW) of electricity from OSW projects. The coasts of Northwest Luzon, Manila, Northern Mindoro, Southern Mindoro, Guimaras Strait, and Negros/Panay West can generate up to 40GW.

The Philippine government quickly complied with the World Bank’s recommendations. The Marcos regime issued an executive order on April 19, 2023 to establish policy and an administrative framework for this. The regime ordered the acceleration and simplification of permit approvals for projects. The DOE also issued an order allowing foreign companies to fully own renewable energy (RE) projects in the country.

The DOE has approved 92 OSW contracts by August 2024. The Marcos regime aims to build the first OSW project by 2028 and construct an additional 150 large OSW projects by 2040.

International institutions provided funding and technical assistance to aggressively push OSW in the country. The Asian Development Bank granted $400,000 to the government in 2024 to develop ports to support OSW construction, while the World Bank extended an $800 million loan in March 2025 to accelerate the country’s transition to “green energy.”

Environmental impact

OSW construction has serious environmental impacts, especially on forest and marine wildlife. The construction and operation of turbines will drive away fish and marine animals including dolphins, dugongs, sharks, sea turtles, and others already considered endangered. It will destroy coral reefs or fish habitats, and decrease water quality, leading to the loss and/or death of fish such as tilapia, milkfish, shrimp, mussels, and others. These are the primary sources of livelihood of fisherfolk.

The mere presence of turbines will also drive away and endanger migratory birds and bats through collisions, noise, and disruption of their habitats and food sources. Data show these have already killed millions of bats and birds worldwide.

Impact on people’s livelihood

The most destructive RE projects in the country include the planned OSW in San Miguel Bay in Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte, and in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, both owned by Denmark-based Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

The 1GW OSW project will cover 23,307 hectares of coastline across four Camarines Sur towns and one Camarines Norte town. It is expected to disposess around 6,000 fisherfolk of their livelihood. The company partners with ACEN Corp. of the Ayala Group. Aside from Copenhagen, six more OSW projects are also set for construction along the same coastline.

The 2GW BuhaWind Floating Windmill will dislocate up to 6,339 registered fisherfolk from four Ilocos Norte municipalities, not counting unregistered fisherfolk. Fisherfolk will be prohibited from sailing in the area within the three years of construction. They will then be barred from approaching within a 50-meter radius around the turbines after the construction. Copenhagen partners in this project with PetroGreen Energy Corporation, owned by the Yuchengco family.

Copenhagen is the first foreign company to fully invest in OSW. In 2023, it secured a 25-year service contract to operate OSW projects in Camarines Norte and Sur, Pangasinan, and Northern Samar.

People’s resistance

Around 200 fisherfolk from the group Tanggol San Miguel Bay Network marched on April 22 from Sabang Fishport to People’s Park in Calabanga, Camarines Sur to denounce the planned construction of the San Miguel Bay Offshore Windmill Project.

The group Saluadan Network to Defend the Environment and Livelihood militantly opposes the proposed Buhawind Wind Farm in Ilocos Norte. The group has repeatedly launched fluvial protests together with church people in the region. It has also launched an online petition against the project.