Posted on November 17, 2025
Belém, Brazil — A viable fusion of financing tools—ranging from concessional loans to hard-edged guarantees—is poised to slash capital costs by roughly half for offshore wind projects in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, primarily for priority pipelines in the Philippines and Vietnam, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).
A report touching on “Innovative Finance Mechanisms for Southeast Asia’s Offshore Wind Take-off: A Study on Unlocking Blended Finance,” which was unveiled by GWEC on the sidelines of the ongoing COP30 Climate Change Summit here, specified that innovative and hybrid financing instruments can serve as a major lever to drive down capital costs for offshore wind installations in the region.
GWEC highlighted that in a mixed-capital finance strategy for offshore wind, multilateral development banks (MDBs) as well as export credit agencies (ECAs) would be key to unleashing both local and global capital that shall be funneled into targeted projects.
“Where market or deal-level gaps exist, innovative instruments such as blended finance, guarantees, concessional loans and mechanisms from DFIs [development finance institutions], MDBs, and ECAs can play a pivotal role in bridging gaps and unlocking capital for wind deployment across the APAC region,” the organization noted.
GWEC deputy chief executive Rebecca Williams underscored that based on their data, it is unmistakable that offshore wind in APAC is about to take off, and it will be a core power source for rapidly growing economies, including Southeast Asian markets.
“GWEC numbers show that offshore wind in the APAC region is on the verge of booming. Offshore wind will play a key role in powering fast growing emerging economies like the Philippines and Vietnam,” she reiterated.
Williams further qualified that, based on their analysis, “when projects are commercially viable and risks are effectively managed, both domestic and international capital are ready to flow.”
Particularly, GWEC’s assessment of a 500-megawatt (MW) candidate project for offshore wind showed that a fully blended capital stack combining commercial debt, concessional loans, export credit guarantees, as well as grants, emerges as the clear path to having the most competitive costs for such facility developments.
“By optimizing the financing mix, the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) can almost halve in both countries—falling from 11.72 percent to 6.54 percent in the Philippines, and from 12.23 percent to 6.82 percent in Vietnam,” GWEC emphasized.
The report stipulated that softened capital costs could slash tariffs by roughly a third—reducing the prospective Philippine tariff to ₱10.50 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), or $0.18/kWh, from ₱16.20/kWh ($0.28/kWh), and for Vietnam to 2,931.45 Vietnamese dong/kWh ($0.11) from 4,579.60 dong/kWh ($0.17)—consequently rendering offshore wind a more affordable option for consumers.
GWEC expounded that boosting the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) will not only strengthen lender confidence but also forge a blueprint for affordable, investable, and scalable offshore wind across emerging markets (EMs).
Williams thus asserted that taming the cost of capital through solid policies, credible developers, and a rock-solid financing strategy will transform offshore wind into a highly attractive and growth-ready technology that could thrive in countries’ power mix.
“By combining strong policy frameworks with credible developers and robust financial structures, offshore wind is a highly attractive and scalable investment in EMs. That means project pipelines and turbines in the water, which, in turn, realizes the benefits of clean, affordable, and secure renewable energy (RE) for homes, businesses, and industries in these markets,” she stressed.
Even if the GWEC study just zeroed in on the hurdles and opportunities of unlocking blended finance for offshore wind in APAC—especially in the case of the Philippines and Vietnam—the report is similarly being positioned as a blueprint for other emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) that are looking into advancing their own offshore wind pipelines.
“While the findings are regionally focused, they provide a globally applicable framework for financing large-scale offshore wind projects in emerging economies,” it stated, adding that “GWEC’s analysis demonstrates that when offshore wind projects are bankable and risks are effectively mitigated and shared, both domestic and international capital can be mobilized.”
GWEC reports that offshore wind capacity now hovers at 83 gigawatts (GW), and that deployment span would be enough to power about 73 million homes.
Beyond financing barriers, GWEC indicated that in packaging offshore wind investments to be truly bankable, host governments must craft transparent, enforceable power purchase agreements (PPAs) and pricing configurations that guarantee predictable revenue streams for project sponsors and lenders.
The organization conveyed that securing viable power supply deals is critical to de-risking early-stage projects and unlocking private capital, especially in markets where maturity and off-taker creditworthiness are still shaky.
GWEC similarly recommended the enforcement of contracts for difference (CfD), which has already been employed and proven in key markets—chiefly in the United Kingdom (UK) and Poland—as a way “to stabilize electricity prices for off-takers and reduce revenue risk for developers and financiers, improving project bankability.”
Another crucial element in host governments’ role, it pointed out, is to “regularly assess and update frameworks as the market evolves to adapt to external market conditions and technology changes.”
