Assuming that Catanduanes’ peak demand for power is now approaching 22 MW during the hottest months, from March to May, it almost beggars belief that a single wind turbine such as the new 26 MW Dongfang offshore turbine in eastern China would supply Catanduanes with enough power to meet all the island’s energy needs — with power to spare.
This is not to mention that the power would be almost free once the construction costs had been covered. And there’s the rub: Exact figures Dongfang are undisclosed; however, for a 26 MW turbine, cost estimates — which usually are expressed in cost per MW — scale to roughly ₱2.9 billion to ₱5.8 billion or more.
So, there’s a lot of money involved. On the other hand, SUWECO’s gensets, the heart of most of Catanduanes’ so-called “missionary” power arrangement, consume more than 5,000 liters of diesel per unit daily when fully operational, according to media reports. For 22 units running 24 hours a day, this amounts to roughly 110,000 liters daily, or 40 million liters annually. And with diesel prices of ₱60-65 per liter, annual fuel spending alone exceeds ₱2.4 billion — also a lot of money.
China is the undisputed world leader in wind power, generating 600 gigawatts as of late 2025. By comparison, the entire nation of the Philippines requires 20 GW of power at peak demand.
The largest wind farm in the world is located at Jiuquan Wind Power Base in Gansu, an arid, windy province in northeastern China with more than 7,000 wind turbines, all onshore.
The 26 MW Dongfang wind turbine, which is located in Shandong Province, has a 310-meter rotor diameter and is 185 meters tall. It was designed to be typhoon resistant, and it was connected to the grid on October 29, 2025, making it the world’s largest operational wind turbine by capacity and rotor size.
While such a monstrous turbine is nothing but a pipe dream to Catandunganons, its preliminary success in Shandong Province nonetheless points to innovative solutions to Catanduanes Province’s energy needs.
In fact, in Catanduanes a single huge turbine such as Dongfang would be less desirable than 4-6 smaller ones so that one or two could be taken offline for maintenance without disrupting the overall power supply.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, which is a 170-nation clearing house for energy solutions in Abu Dhabi, the cost of four 6 MW wind turbines, including installation, would be approximately ₱1.75 billion. Annual operating and maintenance costs would be approximately ₱64 million, according to the IREA.
These figures do not include battery energy storage systems, which have not been widely adopted in the Philippines. A 4-hour system here would cost another ₱737 million.
Meanwhile, existing gensets presumably could be used as backups.
The Department of Energy leads the development and approval of all renewable energy plans, including wind projects. But the Philippine national government currently has no specific plans for wind energy development around Catanduanes Island.
Today, national wind efforts focus on Luzon — Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur offshore projects are expected to provide up to 450 MW — and Visayas, with several onshore and offshore applications approved. But there are no such plans for Catanduanes.
The Philippines has eight wind farms, all onshore, generating 43 MW for the national power grid. Five of the farms are located in Luzon and three in Visayas. They have a total of 290 wind turbines.
The Bangui Windmills at the northern tip of Ilocos Norte, with 20 70-meter high turbines, are a tourist attraction.
Offshore turbines are preferred to onshore types due to higher and more consistent wind speeds — up to 50 percent more and thus generating 50 percent more power — and due to the fact that offshore turbines are larger. Onshore turbines are subject to public opposition due to noise and visual impacts.
Location depends on wind resources and connection points to the existing power grid. Virac has both — tall mountains by the sea and a medium-sized 16 kilovolt substation capable of handling the load.
The Department of Energy favors the northeastern coasts of Luzon because they experience the full force of the Pacific trade winds.
It’s unclear where money would come from for development of wind resources. In Catanduanes, most of the power generating facilities are owned by SUWECO, while the distribution system is owned and operated by FICELCO, and SUWECO is financially insolvent due to ₱538 million in unpaid obligations from the National Power Corporation.
So, the blunt answer to the question posed in the headline is this: Great idea, but there’s no dough.
It should be noted that the Philippines is no slouch when it comes to generating power with renewables. The nation generates 30 percent of its power with a combination of solar, wind, geothermal and hydro technologies, and the DOE plans to increase this to 35 percent by 2023. The Tiwi Geothermal Power Plant in Albay was the first in Asia, and the nation will soon be home to the world’s largest integrated solar and battery storage facility on 3,500 hectares of land in Bulacan.
Bryce McIntyre, PhD, resides in San Andres. He holds a doctoral degree from Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.