Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners is moving toward the development of its 1-gigawatt San Miguel Bay offshore wind project in Camarines Sur following the completion of technical surveys and a key grid upgrade approval.
Copenhagen Offshore Partners offshore wind chief executive Rune Damgaard said during the Energyear Philippines 2026 forum that the company is awaiting the government’s Green Energy Auction Program for offshore wind.
“We feel confident that the auction is soon coming. Then we will enter into the next phase, which will be the detailed design and then the financial investment decision,” Damgaard said.
The Department of Energy plans to hold the GEA-5 auction in the third quarter of 2026, targeting 3,300 megawatts of fixed-bottom offshore wind for delivery between 2028 and 2030.
Damgaard said the company is confident the auction will occur soon, allowing the project to move into detailed design and a final financial investment decision. The firm has already finished environmental and technical surveys and is progressing on procurement.
“We expect to submit our ECC application before summer,” he said, referring to the environmental compliance certificate.
“We are pleased to see that the Energy Regulatory Commission has approved the application of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines to advance the 500-kV substation upgrade,” he said.
The project reached a milestone with the Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines application to upgrade a 500-kilovolt substation.
Copenhagen Infrastructure also expects to submit its environmental compliance certificate application before the middle of the year.
The San Miguel Bay development, which received a pre-development environmental certificate in December 2024, is expected to cost between P130 billion and P170 billion. The wind farm will feature turbines with a capacity of about 10 megawatts each.
Construction will be supported by the Mercedes port in Camarines Norte, which is slated for completion by the fourth quarter of 2027. While the company is targeting commercial operations by the third quarter of 2028, Damgaard noted the schedule remains subject to change based on implementation factors.
The project holds a Certificate of Energy Project of National Significance, a designation under Executive Order 30 that fast-tracks major energy developments aligned with the Philippine Energy Plan.
