DENR: Clean energy vital to national security, sovereignty

Photo taken on March 7, 2025, shows the facade of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources central office on Visayas Avenue, Quezon City.

Philstar.com / Dominique Nicole Flores

MANILA, Philippines — Transitioning to renewable power is essential to protecting the Philippines against international supply shocks and geopolitical instability, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources said.

DENR Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna said decades of heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels have left the Philippine economy exposed to global market disruptions.

Under the Philippine Energy Plan, the government is driving toward a target of exceeding a 50 percent renewable energy share in its power generation mix by 2050, alongside a near-term goal of reaching 35 percent by 2030.

To accelerate this shift, Manila recently opened the renewable energy sector to 100 percent foreign ownership and established priority “green lanes” to fast-track key infrastructure approvals.

Speaking at a reception hosted by Danish green fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Cuna pointed to the government’s growing partnership with CIP, which is developing three offshore wind projects in Northern Samar, Pangasinan, La Union, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte, with a total potential capacity of around 2,000 megawatts.

The cornerstone of this collaboration is CIP’s $3-billion, one-gigawatt San Miguel Bay Offshore Wind Project in Camarines Sur, which became the first offshore wind initiative in the Philippines to earn a pre-development environmental compliance certificate (ECC) from the DENR.

Calling the issuance of the pre-development ECC a “watershed moment,” Cuna emphasized the DENR is committed to accelerating clean energy development while upholding strict environmental safeguards.

“The oceans that will power our offshore wind turbines also feed millions of our people and sustain coastal economies,” Cuna said, addressing senior decision makers at the New York Climate Week.