Wind farm to be set up in Mountain Province

MANILA, Philippines - The first wind farm in the Cordillera region and the second in Southeast Asia will soon rise in Mountain Province.

Renewable energy firm PhilCarbon is developing a 15-MW wind farm in the boundary of Besao and Sagada towns with the support of host indigenous communities.

“The reason for the support is that the pro-ject is non-polluting, it does not destroy the environment and it benefits the community”, said PhilCarbon chairman Rufino Bomas-ang.

Bomas-ang said 25 wind turbines will be erected along the Pilao-Langsayan Ridge, with each turbine designed to generate 600 kilowatts for a total of 15 megawatts of power.

Sagada Mayor Eduardo Latawan Jr. urged host IP communities to reflect on the development opportunities being offered by the renewable energy project.

Mountain Province consumes around 5-6 MWs of electricity and the excess power could be sold to the Luzon grid.

The Sagada & Besao Power Corporation, a subsidiary of PhilCarbon, will spearhead the development, construction, operation and maintenance of the wind power plant.

When operational, the wind farm would become the second to be put into operation in Southeast Asia.

The Bangui wind farm operated by Northwind Power Corp. has been providing power in Ilocos Norte for a decade and has become a tourist site in the region.

Ruth Yu-Owen, president of PhilCarbon, said that the project will play a pivotal role in the development of the host communities.

“Once the wind mills start generating power, the host LGU will automatically be entitled to royalty shares equivalent to P0.01 per kilowatt-hour generated,” Owen explained.

She said that the royalty will be divided among the host LGUs, with 25 percent going to the barangay, 40 percent to the municipality and 35 percent to the province.

The host towns were assured that PhilCarbon will pay its business permit and real property taxes to the local treasury to boost revenues.

Like Bangui in Ilocos Norte, she also expects that the wind mills will become a major tourist attraction in Sagada and Besao.