The Philippines has a potential for 21 gigawatt of offshore wind power by 2040, said a study released by the Department of Energy and the World Bank.

The potential is equivalent to about a fifth of the country’s electricity supply.

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The installation of more wind power could reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.

In 2020, fossil fuels accounted for about 79% of its power generation mix, a report by Reuters said citing a government data for this, while the renewable energy only had a 21% share of the energy mix and had dropped from 34% in 2008.

Solar, wind, and biomass together contributed little less than 4% while coal accounted for nearly 60% of the 2020 mix.

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The government is looking to increase the share of renewable energy to 35% by 2030 and to 50% by 2040.

Ndiamé Diop, World Bank country director for Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand said the Philippines’ “waters have conditions that are well-suited to offshore wind.”

However, there are also challenges in establishing wind power industry like cost, transmission, logistics, financing and ownership issues.