DTI: 2 China firms investing $4 billion in wind energy manufacturing in PH

Two Chinese companies are eyeing the Philippines to be their manufacturing hub for wind power generation equipment, banking on the prospect for the country to supply wind energy components in the region and other top markets, a top official of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Tuesday.

At the sidelines of an event in Makati City, DTI Undersecretary and Board of Investments (BOI) Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said the Chinese firms had visited the Philippines and were scouting for a site for their manufacturing facilities.

“So, two Chinese companies - one is manufacturing the monopile towers and then the other one manufactures the turbines and the blades. So, these are big investments,” Rodolfo said.

The Trade official said the Chinese companies would be investing around $2 billion each.

“So that’s a total of $4 billion for the two,” he said, adding that “hopefully we can close this year.”

For now, Rodolfo declined to identify the two Chinese firms due to confidentiality issues.

“They have already gone to the Philippines to look at different locations and I think they are already closing in on one particular location where they might be close to each other,” he said.

The two Chinese wind energy equipment manufacturers were banking on the 79 service contracts awarded by the Department of Energy (DOE) for both onshore and offshore wind energy projects.

“So those would be the prospective buyers for them. That's also one of the attractions, because the Philippines, as you have seen, when it comes to renewable energy, we're one of the best locations because of our geographic situation,” Rodolfo said.

“They like it here because, one is the local demand and then the opportunity to make us as their hub for the region and also the other big markets like the US and EU (European Union),” he said.

The trade official said the Chinese firms’ projects could avail of the “green lane” to fast-track their investment and also be entitled to fiscal incentives for strategic investments. — DVM, GMA Integrated News