NIRAS to Lead Offshore Wind Environment Assessments for Copenhagen Infrastructure Partner's Philippine Portfolio

The Philippine Government's commitment to reach 35% of renewable energy in its energy generation mix within the next 6 years. Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP) awarded NIRAS the assignment to conduct local Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and Environmental Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs) for the offshore wind farm sites in Philippine, of which COP is leading the development and construction activities on behalf of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).

Through its Manila office and together with local partners, NIRAS will lead the EIA and ESIA processes for CIPs Projects in Philippines, one of which is in Bicol region with a projected capacity of nearly 1 GW. The EIA and ESIA will be based on the guidelines of the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and will be anchored on international industry best practices. NIRAS' work to commence the assessments is a major step in working towards the estimates of The World Bank’s Roadmap for the Philippines, which indicates a potential for up to 21 GW of offshore wind power generation by 2040.

In 2023, CIP signed three 25-year offshore wind service contracts with the Philippines' Department of Energy to develop sites offshore of Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur, Northern Samar, Pangasinan, and La Union. Selecting NIRAS to lead the local EIA and ESIA process is a significant step forward on the pathway of the projects' permitting and consenting timeline. By integrating ESIA at this phase, the projects make sure that the environmental compliance is in line with good international industry practice, the Equator Principles, and The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability.

"We intend to continue the momentum in the Philippines to unleash offshore wind and accelerate the energy transition," says Rune Damgaard, Co-CEO of Copenhagen Offshore Partners. "We have full confidence in NIRAS' expertise, which we experienced firsthand in Taiwan where the NIRAS team has supported COP’s early offshore wind ventures."

With 35 years of experience in engineering and environmental services in the offshore wind sector and 12 years in the Asia-Pacific region, NIRAS is excited to be part of this journey, taking the first concrete steps to deliver the Philippines’s first offshore wind farms in collaboration with COP and CIP.

"With our international experience, we are actively building our local capabilities to positively support the Philippine Government's ambitious drive for offshore wind. Our continued strong good partnership with CIP/COP is a major milestone in this journey,” says Antti Inkinen, the Country Director of NIRAS in the Philippines.

Danish Ambassador Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin shared, "Denmark is a leader when it comes to wind energy technology, and both NIRAS and CIP/COP are veterans in the wind and offshore wind sectors. But of course in the Philippines, where offshore wind is new, they are still novices. In many ways, [they are also] all pioneers of a new energy future for the Philippines. These things matter; it will make a huge difference for the Philippines. It's Philippine energy by Filipinos, for Filipinos. In the future, the Philippines can become much more energy-independent, and this is a huge step forward for any nation."

Sheryl Joy Anne Gutierrez, Associate Director for the Environment at NIRAS Asia Manila Inc remarked, "We are very proud and honoured to have been selected as the local EIA and ESIA provider for one of the experienced Offshore Wind developers in the Asia-Pacific Region and globally. These projects represent a pioneering role for the Philippines' Offshore Wind aspirations, and we are looking forward to work with the Government, local government units, our local partners, and our overseas colleagues on delivering the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) and ESIA for our partner, CIP."

"Over the last two years, we have made significant investments into the Philippines' Offshore Wind market to prepare our office and have the right talents in place to be able to deliver the local EIA and ESIA jointly with our colleagues in Taiwan, Denmark and the UK in this burgeoning market," says Nicholas Peter Corne, Regional Director for the Environment APAC at NIRAS. "This puts us in a unique position to balance our international experience with strong national delivery, helping to create a local supply chain and build-up market know-how for Offshore Wind in the Philippines."