ACEN investing P17 billion in wind farm projects

MANILA, Philippines — ACEN Corp. plans to invest around P17 billion in wind projects which secured contracts under the government’s first round of Green Energy Auction Program (GEAP).

In an interview with reporters, ACEN president and CEO Eric Francia said the P17-billion capital budget would be allocated for the 70-megawatt (MW) Caparispisan II Wind Power Project and 160-MW Balaoi and Caunayan Wind Power Project, both in Ilocos Norte.

“For wind, we will do project finance,” he said.

The 70-MW Caparispisan II Wind Power Project is under Amihan Renewable Energy Corp., which is 80 percent owned by ACEN.

On the other hand, Bayog Wind Power Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of ACEN which is working on the 160-MW Balaoi and Caunayan Wind Power Project.

Both projects are among the 19 contracts awarded by the Department of Energy (DOE) in the first round of GEAP, where it auctioned off 2,000 MW of renewable energy (RE) capacity late last month.

ACEN’s wind projects are two of the four wind contracts awarded in Luzon.

Bayog Wind Power commenced construction for its wind project last year and is targeting completion next year, Francia said.

For the 70-MW wind project, construction will start within the year and is slated for completion in 2024, he said.

“Both projects are well within the deadline, because the FIT for GEAP is for 2025.  Those are the two projects we’re confident will be completed by 2025,” Francia said.

The two projects are the third and fourth wind developments in Ilocos Norte.

The first two projects are the 52-MW NorthWind wind farm in Bangui and the 81-MW North Luzon Renewables wind farm in Pagudpud.

Francia said ACEN would continue to participate in the government’s GEAP, which the DOE said will be conducted on a yearly basis.

“We’ll be interested in participating in future GEAP with our other projects,” he said.

Through the GEAP, the DOE paved the way for immediate and timely investments; supported the development of, and increased financing access for new or additional capacities under a competitive process; as well as implemented programs that promote environmental sustainability, which will aid the country’s transition to RE.

The program will also provide substantial support to the mandated participants of the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) Program to ensure compliance with their minimum RPS requirements since the GEAP is perceived to trigger the increase of RE capacity in the country, which will help the government attain its energy transition goals.

RPS is a mechanism under the RE Act of 2008 where distribution utilities, electric cooperatives  and retail electricity suppliers  are prescribed to source a percentage of electricity requirements from RE sources.

The RPS level is currently set at one percent.