Energy project in Oriental Mindoro qualifies for perks

CALAPAN CITY, Philippines  – The planned P3.425-billion wind project in the southernmost town of Oriental Mindoro will be granted incentives by the Board of Investments.

In a statement, PhilCarbon Inc. said the BOI registered the renewable energy project, making it qualified for fiscal incentives under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.

Phil Carbon is conducting pre-development of the 33.4-megawatt wind project, one of the two similar big amount power projects in the island province to date. The other big energy project s the P6-billion Wind Energy Power System (WEPS) project in the northern town of Puerto Galera by the Philippine Hybrid Energy System Inc.

“The BOI has approved our application for registration as a new renewable energy developer of wind power energy resources to avail of incentives, such as duty-free importation of capital equipment, as we prepare for the construction of our wind power projects,” Yu-Owen said.

According to the PhilCarbon head, the funding for the project would come from a mixture of debt and private equity, or from their capital and outside borrowings.

Called the Bulalacao Windpower Project, the proponent company is targeting to start the construction of the wind facility by September 2014 and to complete the project in January 2016.

Yu-Owen promises local residents, specifically those who will be directly affected by the project, of many benefits in the form of royalty tax, real estate tax, employment during construction, livelihood program and promotion of tourism will be derived from the project.

The Bulalacao wind project is located at the southern tip of Oriental Mindoro, also considered an ideal area for  tourism development. Oriental Mindoro is about 140 kilometers south of Manila.

PhilCarbon applied for a wind energy service contract with the Energy Department to develop the project in Bulalacao town, part of Mindoro Island province.

PhilCarbon said it selected the site based on a study made by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which described the area as one with strong and constant wind with an average speed of 8.2 meters per second.

The wind project is estimated to generate 73.146-gigawatt hours of wind energy for the Visayas grid.