Another foreign company has taken advantage of the easing of foreign restrictions on renewable energy (RE) projects in the country, getting two Wind Energy Service Contracts (WESCs) from the Department of Energy (DOE).
The DOE said it awarded WESCs to Mainstream Renewable Power for its two onshore wind projects in Luzon and Visayas with a total capacity of producing 440 megawatts (MW) of clean energy.
Each contract has an operating period of 25 years.
Mainstream’s two WESCs are the 100-MW Santa Ana Cagayan Wind Project in Cagayan Valley and the 340-MW Panaon Wind Project in Leyte.
The signing of the contracts was witnessed by Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla and Norwegian Ambassador to the Philippines Christian Halaas Lyster.
"The signing of these onshore wind contracts further accelerates the implementation of the thrust of the Marcos Jr. administration to develop the country's indigenous and renewable sources of energy following the lifting of foreign ownership restrictions on renewable energy development," Lotilla said.
The Santa Ana and Panaon wind projects will be Mainstream’s first wholly-owned WESCs since the government allowed 100-percent foreign equity on renewable projects.
Mainstream General Manager for Asia Pacific Eduardo Karlin affirmed the company’s commitment to help the Philippines in achieving its clean energy goal of increasing the share of RE in the energy mix to 35 percent by 2030 and to 50 percent by 2040.
"The awards of these contracts represent an important milestone for Mainstream as we continue to grow our development footprint across the Philippines,” Karlin added.
Mainstream, a pure-play RE firm with wind and solar assets in Latin America, Africa, and Asia-Pacific, has been operating in the Philippines since 2017.
It has an existing partnership with one of the leading local energy companies Aboitiz Power Corp. for the 58-MW onshore wind project in Camarines Sur, which will start its construction this year and commence commercial operations by 2026.
DOE data showed that it has issued 21 WESCs to foreign-owned companies, 17 of which are onshore projects and four are offshore wind energy projects.
