PNOC unit to award wind farm power project in March 2002

The Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC) expects to award a turnkey agreement for the construction of the 40-megawatt (MW) wind farm power project in Burgos, Ilocos Norte in March.

PNOC-EDC president Sergio Apostol said they would start to pre-qualify bidders as early as February 2002. "We will finalize an agreement by March 2002," he said.

According to Apostol, the company plans to start the construction of the wind farm by the third quarter of 2002 to meet the commercial operations target of 2004. PNOC-EDC plans to sell the generated power to the grid as a merchant power plant upon the implementation of the electricity spot market in the country.

The project, which consists of the design, construction and operation of a wind farm, including the 42-kilometer, 230 kilovolt transmission line from the municipality of Burgos where the wind facility would be set up to the substation of the National Power Corp., will be funded by a $55-million loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

The official said PNOC-EDC may expand the project by construction two more 40-MW power facilities in the future, eventually raising its wind farm’s total installed capacity to 120 MW.

Another local firm Northwind Power Development Corp. plans to construct an initial 20 MW wind farm to be located in Bangui Bay, Ilocos Norte. The project, which is envisioned to be implemented in three stages, may ultimately reach a total of 60 MW.

Recently, PNOC-EDC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative Inc. for the sale of the electricity to be generated from these wind farm power projects.

Once completed, both PNOC-EDC and the Northwind wind farms are considered to be the largest wind farm projects in Southeast Asia. "The keen interest of the private sector as well as other government agencies in exploring and developing our wind energy potential is a very welcome news because it only proves that the Philippines is endowed with immense and diversified sources of renewable energy," Energy Secretary Vincent S. Perez said.

Perez said the Philippines has a potential capacity for wind power of about 70,000 MW based on the recent wind mapping study conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the United States.

Based on the Wind Energy Resource Atlas of the Philippines prepared by the NREL, areas identified as possible sites for wind power projects aside from Ilocos Norte include: Batanes, Busuanga and Cuyo Islands in Palawan; Casiguran and Polilio Islands in Quezon; Lubang Island in Mindoro Oriental; Marinduque; Masbate and Siquijor.