German bank to lend 40-M euro for wind power projs

Kreditanstaldt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW), a German export finance agency, is planning to increase its concessional loans for Philippine windpower projects by 40 million euros, Energy Secretary Vincent S. Perez said.

In an investment forum in Frankfurt with more than 50 German businessmen, Perez said KfW will award a half-a-million euro grant for a wind assessment feasibility study in selected sites in the Philippines.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has been actively promoting wind power to accelerate the rural electrification of island grids.

Based on a wind assessment by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory, it was estimated that the Philippines has a theoretical maximum wind potential of 76,000 megawatt (MW).

Germany is the world’s leader in wind power with close to 12,000 MW in wind power installed capacity, or more than a third of the world’s total capacity.

Germany is the second leg of the Philippine renewable energy trade mission to Europe. The delegation also visited a 15-MW wind farm in northern Germany and toured a wind turbine plant of GE Wind Energy Gmbh.

At the same time, Perez invited German wind and solar power companies to invest in the growing renewable energy sector in the Philippines.

He said the Philippines intends to be the largest wind power producer in Southeast Asia within a decade, with 500 MW of potential projects identified from 2004 to 2013.

Perez said there were some German firms that expressed keen interest at the wind power potential in Northern Ilocos, Mindoro, Aklan, Siquijor, and Surigao.

Together with some Filipino renewable energy companies, Perez conducted one-on-one meetings with German firms to explore the feasibility of engaging in wind power projects in the country.